Wabash struggled to score in the second half of Tuesday evening non-conference basketball game at Rose-Hulman as the Little Giants suffered a 76-64 loss to the host Fightin' Engineers.
 
Wabash (6-4) shot just 30 percent from the field in the second half (11-of-36) and hit only two of its 19 three-point attempts (10.5 percent) over the final 20 minutes of the game. The Little Giants came into the contest ranked 12th in Division III in both field-goal percentage (50.1) and three-point shooting (41.5) but finished 19-of-59 from the field overall for 32.2 percent and 8-of-32 for 25 percent from long-range in Tuesday night's loss. Rose-Hulman (4-6) countered with a 16-for-31 effort from the field (51.6 percent) in the second half while finishing 28-of-61 for 45.9 percent for the game. The Fightin' Engineers went 8-of-18 from behind the three-point line for 44.4 percent.
 
Wabash trailed 32-29 at halftime after cutting the Rose-Hulman lead to three points on a Justin Hensley buzzer-beating three-point shot. The Little Giants took a 41-40 lead with 14:54 left to play in the final period on a basket and free throw from Tyler Watson. John Czarnecki gave Rose the lead once again with a basket for a 42-41 advantage.
 
The two teams traded baskets over the next four minutes before Ahmoni Jones provided a 49-48 Wabash lead with a three-point basket with 10:19 left in the game. That's when Rose-Hulman junior guard Chris McGee caught fire. Wabash held McGee to one basket and four points in the first half before the junior scored five consecutive points to put the Engineers in front 53-49. Harrison Hallstrom ended the short scoring run with two of his 13 points to cut the lead to two points. Rose expanded the lead to 55-51 on a dunk by Jacob Back to spark an 11-1 scoring run for the Engineers for a 64-52 advantage head into the final minutes of play.
 
Wabash got as close as six points at 65-59 on a basket and free throw from Hallstrom and a put-back basket from Tyler Watson with 3:06 to play. A layup by Michael Lake followed by a steal and layup by McGee pushed the advantage back to double digits for Rose. Hallstrom trimmed the lead to nine points at 73-64 with less than a minute remaining but the Engineers connected on three of their final four free throws down the stretch for the 12-point victory.
 
Wabash junior guard Jack Davidson scored a team-high 18 points but was held to only three points in the second half. Hallstrom turned in his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Watson added nine points, all coming in the second half.
 
McGee finished with a game-high 22 points for Rose-Hulman. Eli Combs scored 12 points as did Lake. Czarnecki and Max Chaplin scored 10 points apiece.
 
The Little Giants are off until January when the team returns to action in the North Coast Athletic Conference portion of the schedule. Wabash will travel to Allegheny and Hiram for 2 p.m. games against the Gators on January 4 and Terriers January 5.