TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Hanover men's basketball team claimed a key Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory on Wednesday evening as they defeated Rose-Hulman 73-66.
 
With the win, Hanover moves to 6-1 overall and 3-1 HCAC.
 
The Panthers were paced in the contest by junior Ty Houston (Union, Ky.) with a double-double netting a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Matt Munoz (Indianapolis, Ind.) added 21 points for the Blue and Red.
 
The opening half would see Hanover jump ahead as Munoz used a 6-0 run to help propel HC out front 14-5 with 14:36 to play. However, the Fightin' Engineers remained poise as they were able to chisel at the lead before over taking the Panthers, 17-15, midway through the stanza.
 
Houston responded pulling HC within a jumper when Rose-Hulman dealt the final blow for the 35-32 halftime lead.
 
The second half opened with hot shooting by Rose-Hulman pushing the lead to 47-38 before  senior Isaac Hibbard (New Albany, Ind.) went to work netting back-to-back strikes that cut the difference to just two points at the 14:20 mark.
 
Hanover continued to rally as Munoz put HC in front minutes later when Houston secured the rest at the charity stripe to propel HC to the HCAC victory.
 
Hanover returns to action on Monday, Dec. 20 when they travel to Kalamazoo. Game time is set for 5:00 PM.