Box Score Wabash fought back to within four points Monday night with 1:22 remaining in the ball game, only to see Rose-Hulman score an 8-3 run down the stretch for a 77-68 win over the Little Giants.
 
Wabash held the Fightin' Engineers to 2-of-9 shooting from three-point range, well below the 49-percent Rose (2-2) posted entering the game. However, the host Engineers took advantage of 35 free throw tries, hitting 27 for the game. Wabash hit 15-of-21 free throws in the losing effort.
 
Turnovers proved to be the key to the contest. Wabash committed 15 turnovers that led to 22 points for Rose. The Engineers also came into the game averaging only 19 rebounds, but grabbed 30 in the contest, including 12 offensive boards that created 11 second-chance points. The Little Giants also picked up 30 rebounds, scoring 14 second-chance points. Wabash converted 14 Rose turnovers into 13 points.
 
Freshman Kyle Aiton gave the Little Giants an early 2-0 lead with his driving basket in the lane. Wabash held a two-point advantage, 15-13, with 12 minutes left in the first half before Rose created its first offensive push with a 5-0 run to move in front by five. Wabash rallied with back-to-back baskets by Pete Nicksic to grab a one-point lead.
 
Rose (2-2) jumped back in front, leading by as many as six points before Marcus Kammrath brought Wabash back to within two points with his tip-in basket with 2:15 remaining in the first half. After a free throw put the Engineers up 30-27, Gary Ulrich drained a trey to tie the contest with 1:29 left in the first half. Jimmy Miller answered for Rose with a three-pointer to give the Engineers a 33-30 halftime edge.
 
The Engineers opened the lead to eight points in the first three minutes of the second half, eventually taking an 11-point lead with 3:12 left to play. Aiton hit a pair of free throws, followed by a Kammrath jumper to trim the lead to seven. Julian Strickland, who scored 22 of his game-high 31 points in the final period, hit a free throw, but Houston Hodges nailed a jumper in the lane to cut the lead to six. After a turnover by Rose, Aiton scored again to make it a 69-65 game with 1:22 left to play. Wabash would get no closer as Rose hit free throws down the stretch to take the nine-point win.
 
Aiton led the Little Giants with 13 points. Daniel Purvlicis and Kasey Oetting each added 10 points. Hodges picked up a career-high nine assists before fouling out late in the game.
 
Wabash (0-5) begins North Coast Athletic Conference action Wednesday night at home against 21^st-ranked Wittenberg University (4-1, 1-0 NCAC). Tipoff at Chadwick Court is at 7:30 p.m.