TERRE HAUTE, Indiana - The Mount St. Joseph men's basketball team has qualified for the 2025 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament after putting together a 12-13 regular season and an 8-10 mark in league play this season. With their win on the road at Berea in the season finale, they earned the #6 seed in the upcoming tournament. With that seeding they will be on the road on Saturday, headed to Terre Haute to take on the #3 seed the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers'. The game is scheduled to get underway at 4:00 PM in the Hulbert Arena.
This will be the third meeting of the season between these two squads, with Rose taking the first two by 12 points each. In the first matchup of the season January 28th in Terre Haute, The Lions were led by a 20 point effort from
Luke Collinsworth. Then on February 12th, Rose won 78-66 in the Harrington Center. In that game the Lions had three players in double-figures,
Michael Loftis led the way with 19. Loftis was a perfect 4-for-4 from the three point line in the game.Â
Saturday's game will feature two of the better defensive teams in the HCAC this season. The Lions are 4th in the scoring defense in the league this season allowing 71.1 ppg, and Rose is 2nd allowing 69.4 ppg.Â
Offensively the Mount boasts a balanced attack, as four players average double-figures on the season. Collinsworth leads the way with 15.2 ppg, he is joined in double-figures by
Matthew Menninger (11.9), Loftis (11.0) and
Elisha Jones (10.1).
Rose has three players that average more than 10 a game, freshman Joey Schmitz is their leading scorer with 13.8 ppg. Miles McGowan (12.5) and Kobe Stoudemire (11.9) are the other two that average north of 10.Â
The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the HCAC semi-finals which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the tournament.Â
