Rose men fall out of first-place logjam in HCAC

That fat first-place logjam atop the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball standings keeps getting thinner as the top teams play each other in the final weeks of the regular season.

Before Wednesday's games, five teams were tied at the top. Before Saturday, the number had dropped to four.

Unfortunately for Rose-Hulman, the Engineers — celebrating Senior Day — fell one game behind the other leaders by losing to Anderson 78-70 on Saturday afternoon at Hulbert Arena.

The Ravens remain on top of the HCAC mountain with Mount St. Joseph, which defeated last-place Earlham on Saturday, and Transylvania, which knocked off Bluffton on Saturday. Franklin, the one team that fell from a tie for first to one game behind after Wednesday, fell one game behind Rose and two games behind the others into fifth (tied with Hanover) after losing to Berea on Saturday.

The Engineers (13-9 overall, 10-5 HCAC) have three regular-season matchups left — at home against Mount St. Joseph on Wednesday, at Bluffton on Saturday and at Earlham on Feb. 17.

On Saturday, Rose-Hulman led 38-35 at halftime. But Anderson roared back to secure the victory. There were five lead changes and five ties in the contest.

Daniel Savovic paced the home team with 22 points and Cole Pride chipped in with 19 points and eight rebounds. The Engineers shot an uncharacteristically poor 13 percent (3 for 23) from 3-point range.

Anderson's top scorers were its starting five: Kenney Troutman with 15 points, DeMonte Ferguson and Nolan Swan with 14 each, Bryce Williams with 13 and Elijah Mattingly with 12. Mattingly also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Anderson (13-9, 11-4) will play host to Hanover on Wednesday.