WARRIORS UNABLE TO OVERCOME HOT SECOND HALF FROM INDIANA TECH

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - It was a tale of two halves that didn't go the Warriors' (11-3, 6-2) way, with the team falling behind against Indiana Tech (9-5, 7-1) 79-65 on Saturday afternoon in the Schaefer Center.

Forward Brandon Michrina led the Warriors in scoring with 18 points, while forward Brett White contributed 12 off the bench. The story of the game was Indiana Tech getting 31 points from bench players Crew Gibson and Dallas Roberts

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST HALF

• Rochester's offense was a well-oiled machine to start the game, with the team jumping out to a 17-4 lead thanks to three early threes from Brandon Michrina. The Warriors were able to move the ball well and also find looks inside for bigs James Fisher and Stavros Polatoglou.
• Indiana Tech would find a surge of momentum late in the second half, hitting several threes and recovering from a double-digit deficit. Michrina would find nylon again on a big three, but the hosts would get within one. However, Walters would hit a half-court buzzer-beater to give Rochester a four-point lead at the break

SECOND HALF

• Indiana Tech came out with a vengeance in the second half, embarking on an 11-0 run that gave them the lead for the rest of the game. That run was the start of a 61.1% shooting half for the defending WHAC Champions, with Rochester having a hard time finding answers
• Off the bench, forward Brett White found success from the mid-range, hitting multiple jumpers to give Rochester some life. However, Indiana Tech continued to hit shot after shot, out-scoring the Warriors 49-31 in the second half

POSTGAME PRESSER

Head Coach Klint Pleasant had this to say on the game:

"[Indiana Tech] shot 61% in the second half. They were shotmakers. We had times of real toughness but it was not sustained."

STAT OF THE GAME

Indiana Tech out-rebounded the Warriors 45-31.

UP NEXT

Rochester will look to get back in the swing of things against Cornerstone (8-6, 4-4) in Mol Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Hussein Murray - RU Athletic Communications

Featured Image: Hanna Swanson - RU Athletics