NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – A quick start Saturday, Feb. 8, helped lead Manchester University to another pivotal victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The Spartans, improving to 11-10 overall and 8-6 in the league, kept their hold on fourth place in the HCAC with their third victory in the last four games, side-stepping Rose-Hulman (8-13, 6-8) 47-38. They scored 19 of the game's first 22 points en route to a 27-12 halftime lead before the Fightin' Engineers managed to move as close as seven in the second half.
Senior forward Erynn Meiklejohn (Fort Wayne, Ind.) topped the Black and Gold with 13 points which included a pair of three-point buckets. She also blocked two Rose-Hulman shot attempts. Junior center Alyssa Hammond (Osgood, Ind.) added nine points and four rebounds.
MU, which opened a set of four of its final five regular season games being played at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena, hosts league rival Anderson University Wednesday, Feb. 12. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: The Spartans took sole possession of fourth in the conference due to the win and a Bluffton University of Ohio loss at Franklin College … Meiklejohn registered her eighth multiple-blocked shot and 10th double-figure scoring contest of the year … Junior guard Jocelyn Hamilton (Columbus, Ind.) increased her run of multiple-assist games to 21 with two to share the team lead with junior guard Alyssa Smith (Bluffton, Ind.) and junior forward Abby Lang (Indianapolis, Ind.).