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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Rose-Hulman men victorious at Defiance; Woods women win

the tribune-star, terre haute, ind.
·4 min read

Jan. 14—Rose-Hulman used a great second-half defensive effort to outscore host Defiance 39-22 and bring home a 77-57 victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball Saturday.

The Engineers extend their win streak to four games since the calendar flipped to 2023.

With 10:57 to go, Defiance hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 56-51. However, the Engineers would proceed to go on a 17-2 run and a 21-4 run to stretch the lead to 22. Rose held the Yellow Jackets to 1-for-15 shooting and forced six turnovers in the final 10:57 of the game.

Rose senior guard Max Chaplin scored a career-high in points for the second straight game with 26 with help from 6-for-10 marksmanship from beyond the 3-point arc. Miles McGowen posted 16 points on the inside and Terry Hicks added a near double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Isaac Farnsworth also reached double figures in rebounds with a career-high 10 while contributing six points off the bench.

Landen Swanner paced the the Yellow Jackets' offense with 15 points and Te Jones and Marell Jordan pitched in with 13 and 12 respectively.

Rose-Hulman, which improved to 9-6 overall and stayed in second in the HCAC standings at 6-2, will return to action Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at HCAC-leading Anderson.

Defiance dropped to 5-10 overall and 0-8 respectively.

----In other men's basketball Saturday:

—Indiana University Kokomo 64, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods 46 — At Hamilton Arena, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods — despite playing without injured leading scorer Keith Germain — hung tough with IU Kokomo for 32 minutes.

The final eight minutes, unfortunately for the Pomeroy faithful, saw the Cougars pull away for the River States Conference victory. The Cougars, the RSC West Division leaders with records of 12-5 overall and 6-1 in the league, have been receiving votes in the NAIA coaches poll.

The Pomeroys showed resolve in the first half, climbing out of a 24-14 deficit to go into halftime trailing just 28-24. Elkin Ramirez hit two 3-pointers and Davin Miller slammed home one of four alley-oop dunks in the game during a 10-2 run for the Pomeroys late in the first half.

Ramirez finished as SMWC's lone player in double figures with 15 points, connecting on 5 of 10 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.

IUK made a small surge to start the second half, with Ramirez stopping the bleeding after eight unanswered points by the Cougars. Still, IUK came back to take its largest lead to that point at 42-29 with 16:06 remaining on a layup by Zach Rineheart.

Ramirez capped an 8-1 spurt for SMWC with another 3-pointer to pull SMWC within 42-37. Miller trimmed SMWC's deficit to 45-41 with an emphatic alley-oop jam on a long pass from Aaron Collins. J.R. Lumsden, who finished with nine points, converted in the lane to keep it 47-43.

But after an offensive rebound, Rineheart hit a pair of free throws to start a 12-0 IUK run that pretty much sealed the outcome.

SMWC (6-11, 1-7 RSC) will return to action Thursday at West Virginia Tech.

Women's basketball

—Saint Mary-of-the-Woods 65, Indiana University Kokomo — At Hamilton Arena, Brooklynn Jones poured in a career-high 26 points to lead SMWC to a home triumph Saturday.

The Pomeroys boosted their records to 11-5 overall and 3-5 in the River States Conference.

Jones made 10 of 21 from the field and helped hold off the Cougars with 10 points in the fourth quarter. She also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. The Pomeroys got 14 points from Cory senior Avalee Jeffers, a former Clay City High School standout, as well.

SMWC led 15-11 after the opening quarter behind eight points from Jones, but IU Kokomo clawed back to take a 29-26 halftime advantage.

Brionna Sims helped the Pomeroys retake the lead in the third period, scoring six of her eight points off the bench in the period.

Jones hit a mid-range jumper with 2:08 to go in the third quarter and Jeffers converted a layup with 27 seconds on the third-quarter clock to put SMWC ahead 45-40 heading into the final frame.

The Pomeroys used a 6-0 spurt to take control of the game. Sims hit two free throws, Jones connected from mid-range and Abbi Parker finished off a drive down the left side of the lane to put SMWC ahead 55-47 with 2:41 remaining.

"We were able to control pace in the second half and play our style," Woods coach Terry Bowe said afterward.

SMWC shot 41.8 percent overall and hit 17 for 18 free throws.

The Pomeroys' 3-5 mark in the RSC puts them fifth in the West Division standings and eighth overall, one-half game ahead of Point Park and Ohio Christian. The top eight teams in the league will qualify for the postseason tournament.