Wabash took an early lead but was outscored by the host Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers in the second half of Thursday night's basketball game, a 76-65 loss for the Little Giants.
 
The host Engineers (5-6) outscored Wabash (3-6) 45-30 over the final 20 minutes to secure their fourth consecutive victory.
 
Wabash jumped out to a strong start, opening up a seven-point lead at 17-10 in the first five minutes of action. The Little Giants extended the lead to as many as ten points on a three-point basket by Jack Davidson after a three-minute scoring drought by both teams. Davidson's basket provided the only points for Wabash in a span of three minutes to give Rose the opportunity to trim the scoring edge. Charlie Aimone tied the game at 23-23 at the 7:26 mark of the first half by picking up seven consecutive points for the Engineers.
 
The Little Giants took control once again, moving back in front with a 12-6 run capped by a jumper by Colton Garland with a minute remaining in the first period. Rose closed out the half with a pair of free throws to make it a 35-31 contest at the break.
 
Rose shot 38.7 percent from the field in the first half, including 36.4 percent from three-point range. The Engineers improved to 51.7 percent over in the second half, connecting on 7-of-11 shots from three-point range. By contrast, Wabash hit 15-of-26 shots from the field in the first half, but finished 13-of-32 for 40.6 percent shooting in the second half. Rose also turned 14 Wabash turnovers into 18 points in the game, including 12 second-half points.
 
Harrison Hallstrom paced Wabash with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Alex Eberhard added 13 points. Garland finished with 11. Craig McGee scored 23 points for Rose-Hulman, aided by a 22-point effort from Aimone.
 
Wabash returns to action December 29 at 7 p.m. at home versus the University of Chicago. The Little Giants will face Franklin College Saturday, December 30 at 3 p.m. at Chadwick Court.