CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Rose-Hulman men's basketball lost the lead late and fell to Mount St. Joseph 66-63 in overtime. The Figtin' Engineers fall to 2-1 in the HCAC with their 66-63 loss.
Mount St. Joseph took a 29-28 halftime lead into the locker room thanks to their outstanding three-point shooting in the first half of action. The Lions hit 6 three-pointers in the first half to take the early lead.
In the second half, the Fightin' Engineers came out strong and extended their lead up to 8 points early in the half. However, in the final two minutes action, the Lions clawed their way back into the game. Willard Cluxton knocked down a triple before Jack Kolar knocked down back to back triples to trim the Rose-Hulman lead to 2 with just under one minute to play.
After a miss by Rose-Hulman, Mount St. Joseph had a chance to tie or win the game on the final possession of action. Kolar missed a wing three, but Dayne Gardner fought for the offensive rebound and got the game-tying putback with just 3.8 seconds on the clock.
Terry Hicks missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer and the game was sent into overtime.
A couple of
Miles McGowen layups and a big triple by
Bradley Harden helped extend the Rose-Hulman lead to 4, but another three by Cluxton cut the Fightin' Engineers lead to 1 with one minute remaining. After a Rose-Hulman miss, Luke Collinsworth went to the line and knocked down two big free throws to give the Lions the lead with 30 seconds to go in overtime. Rose-Hulman then turned the ball over twice in the final 15 seconds to give the Lions an overtime win.
Miles McGowen led the team with 18 points and added 6 rebounds.
Terry Hicks added 10 points,
Josiah McGee added 9 points, and
Bradley Harden added 9 points and 8 rebounds.
The difference in the game was three-point shooting and rebounding. Mount St. Joseph made 12 triples, and Rose-Hulman shot just 5-24 from three. The Lions also outrebounded Rose-Hulman 44-36 and 14-7 on the offensive glass.
Rose-Hulman fell to 4-4 on the season and 2-1 in the HCAC, while Mount St.Joseph improved to 2-5 and 1-1 in the HCAC. The Fightin' Engineers hit the road once again on Wednesday night as they travel to Hanover College in a battle between two of the top teams in the HCAC.
