Box Score Hanover, IN (Collier Arena) - Tonight the Hanover College Panthers hosted the #1 seed in the HCAC, the Fightin' Engineers from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The Panthers came into tonight's match-up at 7-7 overall with a conference record of 3-4 while Rose sat at 10-4 overall and lead the conference at 7-0.

The first half got off to a slow start, the first several minutes were physical with most of the action taking place in the paint and high-key, but was relatively slow-paced as offensively for a Panthers home game. It was very evident right away that high-pressure defense was a top priority on the Hanover scouting report as they were flying around and disrupting several shots and passes early on - this would go on to play a huge part in the outcome of tonight's match-up.

Hanover started to click offensively after a couple of empty trips down the court and would string together a few solid scoring possessions. Freshman guard Jeremiah Alexander checked into the game and immediately hit a big three pointer to spark the run, and followed it up with a bucket in the paint to go up 9-4 after about seven minutes into the half. Senior forward Coleman Sater follows up with a steal on the in-bound as the Panthers ran their press, and converts the lay-up after the caused turnover.

Later in the half Jeremiah Alexander continued to impress the crowd as he was able to score again at the rim stretching the Panther lead to 11 at 30-19. Rose finaly responded with a brief scoring run of their own, but sophomore guard CJ Walls would quickly slow their momentum with a physical lay through contact. The Panthers went on to close the half up 10 at 38-28 while shooting 57% from the floor and 33% from behind the arc hitting 4 of 12 attempts - the defensive pressure from the Panthers also proved to be massively effective as they held Rose to just 33% from the field and 11% from thee-point land on a measly 1-9 shooting split.

Hanover began the second half with an 8-0 scoring run in the first minute and a half powered by back-to-back threes from senior guard Luke Miller. Miller continued to play ablaze contesting and sending a shot careening off the glass and created a caused turnover on back-to-back defensive possessions, which led to the Panthers being able to extend their run to 10 points, and now leading 48-30 after a bucket in the paint by freshman forward Malachi McNair.

Rose responds with a pair of free throws and a two-pointer, but Hanover maintains their lead and pace as senior forward Coleman Sater drives through the Rose defensive pressure for buckets on two consecutive possessions. After just over seven minutes of play, Hanover was able to extend their lead to 23 points at 57-34, and they seemed to be playing the best defense they've played all season.

Rose able to cut the lead down to 15 after an 8 point run with about ten minutes remaining. The Panthers responded by locking back in defensively with a steal by freshman forward Jack Miller and a block by Malachi McNair on consecutive trips down the court. Freshman Jeremiah Alexander who had checked back in the game a few minutes prior followed McNair's block with a tough fast-break lay through smothering contact and converts the and-one free throw. Moments later McNair came up with yet another huge block in the mid-range.

The Panthers continued to close out the game with suffocating defensive pressure and hitting smart shots from the spots they wanted. Hanover took down Rose at 78-50 for their fourth conference victory of the 2024-25 season. Hanover returns to action January 18th ve Mt. St. Joseph at home in Collier Arena. Tip-off is set for 2:00 PM on this coming Saturday.

Statistical Standouts from tonight's game for the Panthers include:
#12 Luke Miller (Sr, G) - 20 Pts | 4 Reb | 3 Stl | 2 Blk
#40 Malachi McNair (Fr, F) - 8 Pts | 11 Reb | 2 Blk | 1 Stl
#35 CJ Walls (So, G) - 14 Pts | 2 Reb | 2 Stl | 71% FG (5/7)