NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – The guard combination of sophomore Blake Brouwer (Elkhart, Ind.) and junior Brady Dolezal (Tipton, Ind.) stepped to the forefront of Manchester University's scoring chart Saturday, Dec. 13.
Dolezal, etching his 20th double-figure points total in his last 21 appearances, produced 17 points, due in large part to a solid seven-of-nine effort from the free throw line, while Brouwer ended with 10 points. However, in the end, it wasn't quite enough as visiting Rose-Hulman converted an inside turnaround bucket by junior forward Matt Loesing in the closing moments for a 55-54 decision.
MU (2-6 overall, 1-2 HCAC) jumped out to a 7-2 lead and held the advantage until the Fightin' Engineers (4-4, 2-1 HCAC) overtook their guests in the second section of the opening 20 minutes. The match-up continued to stay topsy-turvy, as the lead went to each side in the final 20 minutes, part of 11 such changes during the afternoon. The Spartans appeared to take control in the final minutes behind a run of six successive points from sophomore guard Chase Casteel (Monrovia, Ind.) and a nifty conventional three-point play from Dolezal helped lift them to a 51-48 lead with 41 seconds to play. R-H answered by scoring seven of the game's final 10 points, with Loesing's bucket included, for the win.
Other top team numbers for the Black and Gold came from Dolezal adding seven rebounds to his team-point high; Brouwer claiming two steals; senior guard Caleb Jackson (New Castle, Ind.) by virtue of five assists; and junior forward Jarod Schrock (Logansport, Ind.) with two blocked shots. Loesing led Rose-Hulman with 19 points.
Manchester University steps out of conference play Tuesday, Dec. 16, with a trip to Indiana University – Northwest. Tip-off is 7 p.m. inside the Savannah Center.
NOTES: Jackson dished out five assists-or-more for the fourth time this season … Schrock's six rebounds marked the fifth time this season he's grabbed six-or-more … Brouwer has seen his scoring average leap better than four points (six – 10.5 points) due to four double-figure totals in the last five contests.