TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Rose-Hulman men's basketball team secured a huge win over the Hanover Panthers in the HCAC Quarterfinal on Saturday with a final score of 71-62. The Fightin' Engineers improved to 17-9 overall and will advance to the HCAC Semifinal next Friday, February 27.

Cole Pride led the team in scoring with 21 points, shooting 9-13 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Joey Schmitz was another 20-point scorer, totaling 20 points on 7-11 shooting and 2-5 on three-pointers. Other double-figure scorers included Evan Gentile with 14 and Daniel Savovic with 13. Kobe Stoudemire was the team's leader in rebounds with nine and assists with four. 

The game remained close throughout the first half. Hanover built a five-point lead with the score at 17-12 with 11:52 left in the half. Rose-Hulman answered with an 11-6 run to tie the contest at 23-23 on a made jumper by Schmitz with 4:43 remaining before halftime. 

With three seconds left, Rose-Hulman took the lead on a deep three-pointer by Pride at the buzzer that made the score 30-29 at the halftime break. 

The Fightin' Engineers opened the second half with a made three by Schmitz to set the tone. The team stretched their lead to double digits after another made triple by Schmitz moved the score to 48-38 with 11:48 remaining. 

Hanover battled back to cut the deficit to one point on a made three-pointer with 2:56 left on the clock, with the score at 58-57. Rose-Hulman answered with back-to-back triples by Pride and Gentile to extend their lead back to a comfortable seven points. The team relied on strong free-throw shooting down the stretch to solidify the win. 

The Fightin' Engineers finished the game shooting 46.4% from the floor and 32.1% from three. The team also won the rebounding battle 32-30, and did not trail during the entire second half. 

Rose-Hulman will advance to the HCAC Semifinal, where they will face Anderson on Friday, February 27, in Lexington, Kentucky.