CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology men's basketball team earned its first victory of the 2014-15 season on Sunday, knocking off previously unbeaten Wabash College 57-47.

The victory was head coach Rusty Loyd's first win at the helm of the Fightin' Engineer men's basketball program. In addition, the win marks the third straight victory for Rose-Hulman over in-state rival Wabash.

Rose-Hulman led 26-21 at halftime and opened the second half on a 10-2 run capped by a jumper from junior Matt Loesing.

The Little Giants would cut the Engineer advantage to a single basket (45-43) with four minutes remaining, but consecutive field goals followed by a three-pointer  from junior Tyler Duffy put Rose-Hulman ahead by eight points with 1:59 on the clock.

Loesing and junior Jimmy Miller paced Rose-Hulman offensively with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Senior Corey Povaleri added nine points, while sophomore Wade Stallings chipped in seven points.

As a team, Rose-Hulman shot 40 percent (22-55) from the field compared to 34 percent (17-50) for Wabash. In addition, the Engineers turned the ball over just seven times while Wabash committed 15.

Rose-Hulman improves to 1-3 on the season and opens Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday, Dec. 3, against Anderson. The game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.