Box Score CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Mount St. Joseph University men's basketball rallied late to force overtime, eventually taking down Rose-Hulman 66-63 for their first HCAC win of the season.
Rose-Hulman led nearly the entirety of the first half of play, untill with an
Evan Wiehe three pointer gave the Lions their first lead of the day at 28-26. They would carry a 29-28 lead into the halftime break, they did so behind a strong first half from deep as they were able to hit six triples in the half.
Both team struggled mightily on the offensive end of the court coming out of the intermission. The Mount scored only a single point over the opening 8:13 of the second half, but defensively they only allowed the Fightin' Engineers to score 8 over the same time frame to stay in the game. Rose would push their lead out to eight points with just under two minutes to play, but back-to-back three pointers by
Jack Kolar got the Lions right back in the game.
Down two with the ball and 20 seconds left on the clock, Coach Carrigan drew up a play to get Kolar a look at three and the win. The shot missed wide right but fell to
Dayne Gardner on the offensive glass who quickly laid it back in to tie the score at 56, forcing overtime.
Rose looked early in the overtime period like they may take control of the game, starting the period with a 7-3 run. Trailing by four with 1:06 to play
Willard Cluxton buried his second three pointer of the game to pull the Lions within one. The Lions got a stop on defense, and Rose fouled
Luke Collinsworth on the next play sending the Lions big man to the free throw line. Collinsworth drilled both free throws to put the Lions ahead for good. Rose had the ball and an opportunity to take the game on the final shot but a steal by Gardner and a pair of free throws by Kolar sealed the deal.
Kolar and Collinsworth each chipped in a team-high 17-points in the win, despite doing their scoring in much different fashions. Kolar was 5-11 from three, and Collinsworth was 7-13 from the paint. In a game where coach Carrigan knew the backboards would be key, Gardner was outstanding pulling down a season-high 12 boards, while also dishing out 5 assists. The bench was also fantastic for the Lions, getting big contributions from
Nate Kratzer (9),
Alex Totton (9),
Evan Wiehe (6) and Cluxton (6).
Up next the Lions will head to Asbury University (9-2) on Wednesday. The game is scheduled to get underway at 7:00 PM.
