RICHMOND, Ind. — The John Mutchner Cup was on the line Wednesday night as the Earlham College men's basketball team faced the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

The Engineers kept the cup for the second straight year with an 80-57 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Quakers on Schuckman Court in the Athletics and Wellness Center.

John Mutchner is a 1956 graduate of Earlham and a member of the EC Athletics Hall of Fame. He is also is a member of Rose-Hulman's Hall of Fame and in 1988 he retired as the top coach in Engineer history after serving 25 years with 341 victories.

The annual battle for the cup began on Dec. 16, 2000, when the Quakers defeated Rose-Hulman 68-64 at Hinkle Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University.

On Wednesday, Kyle Smith led the Quakers with 14 points as they finished with three others in double figures. Elijah Wilson-Thomas and Taylen Alexander tossed in 12 points each, while Patrick Hawkins added 10 points.

Alexander topped the Quakers with six rebounds with Lajay Kelly and DeAndre Lynch pulled down five rebounds apiece. Wilson-Thomas and Alexander each handed out four assists.

The contest was tied on three occasions early in the game with the final time coming when Wilson-Thomas drilled a 3-pointer to make it 11-11 at the 13:31 mark.

Rose-Hulman (8-4, 4-1) went on a 13-2 run to build a 23-13 advantage with 8:58 left to play in the opening period.

By the intermission, the Engineers led 42-26.

In the second half, the HCAC co-leaders were able to maintain their lead on the way to the win.

Earlham (0-12, 0-5) entertains Mount St. Joseph University on Saturday. The HCAC affair gets underway at 3 p.m.