Men's Basketball Beats Rose-Hulman (Ind.)

TERRE HAUTE, IND.  --  The Defiance College men's basketball team continued to pile up victories with a 67-58 win against Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Institute of Technology in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game in Terre Haute, Ind.

Three players scored in double figures for Defiance led by senior forward Bernard Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Warren Cousino) with a game-high 21 points on seven-of-20 shooting (35.0 percent) and a perfect seven-of-seven at the free-throw line.  Senior guard Travis Schomaeker (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) was second with 16 points and fellow senior guard Mason Roth (McComb) added 13 points.  Junior forward Wade Wooley (Wauseon) grabbed 13 rebounds for the second time this season, equaling his career-high.

Rose-Hulman (8-5, 4-2 HCAC) led early in the first half, but a 7-2 scoring run by Defiance (10-3, 5-1 HCAC) gave the Yellow Jackets a four-point edge, 11-7, at the 16:01 minute mark following a layup by Schomaeker.  The teams traded leads again later in the half as the Fightin' Engineers moved back ahead on the scoreboard.  Trailing by four points, 25-21, with 5:13 to go in the period, Defiance ended the half outscoring RHIT, 8-2, to take a 29-27 advantage heading into the locker room.

RHIT scored the first points of the second half to even the game at 29-29.  DC answered with another run, this time a 10-3 run with seven points coming from Edwards, to take a seven-point lead, 39-32, with 14:42 left in the game.  The Engineers cut the deficit to two points nearing the midway point of the half, but seven unanswered points by DC gave the Jackets their first double-digit lead, 49-39, at the 9:49 mark.  DC went on to lead by as many as 13 points, 54-41, thanks to a jumper by Edwards with 7:28 to go.  This time, RHIT rallied and edged its way back into the game narrowing the gap to four points, 60-56, with just over a minute-and-a-half on the clock.  Defiance capitalized on its free-throw attempts in the end as the Engineers were forced to foul to stay in the game.  The Jackets converted seven-of-eight "freebies" in the final 1:30 to seal the 67-58 victory.

RHIT was led in scoring by Corey Povaleri with 14 points.  The duo of Jimmy Miller and Matt Loesing both added 10 points to round out the high scorers for the Engineers.

Defiance will look to keep the momentum going when it travels to rival Bluffton University for a conference matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 14.  The game will be part of a basketball doubleheader with the Yellow Jacket women's team.  The women will also take on the Beavers beginning at 6 p.m., followed by the men at 8 p.m.