CHICAGO, Ill. – A cold shooting night led to the Southwestern men’s basketball team garnering their first loss of the season, falling 56-50 to the Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in the opening round of the University of Chicago Tournament.

Southwestern came out blazing, leading by 12 points just 5 minutes into the game, but RHIT slowly chipped away at the lead and eventually pulled even 26-26 with two minutes remaining. A pair of free throws by junior Nick Caputo gave the Pirates a two point lead going into halftime, 30-28.

The second half was an exact opposite of the first half. RHIT built a thirteen point lead halfway through the final period and SU began to work their way back into the game, pulling within four on a free throw by junior Jonathan Brown. A pair of free throws by RHIT’s Knotts, put the Engineers back up by six. RHIT made their free throws down the stretch of the game, not allowing SU within four points to close out the contest.

Senior Zach Bergstrom was the only Pirate in double digits, scoring a team high 18 points, shooting 5-9 from behind the three-point line in the loss. Fellow senior Travis Barber chipped in nine while leading in rebounds, pulling down six boards.

The Pirates had three fewer turnovers (11-14) but were out-rebounded by 12 including going -6 in offensive rebounds.

Southwestern sits at 1-1 overall and will face Earlham on Sunday at 1:00 pm in the Consolation game.