BEREA, Ohio – Despite a game-high 27 points from junior forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice), the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team suffered a 73-60 loss in its 2011-12 season-opener at cross-town rival Baldwin-Wallace College on Tuesday evening at Ursprung Gymnasium.

The Spartans (0-1) are back in action this Friday and Saturday, November 18-19, with the annual Stephanie Tubbs Jones Memorial Tournament at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland. Case opens the weekend versus Elmira College (N.Y.) on Friday at 8:00 p.m.

Fowler's 27 points were accompanied by eight rebounds. Freshman forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) joined Fowler in double-figures with 13 points in his collegiate debut.

The Yellow Jackets, who snap a two-game losing streak to CWRU, had four players in double-figures led by Kevin Krakowiak with 12 points.

B-W jumped out to an 11-7 lead at the 14:45 mark following a pair of free throws from Jaron Crowe. Case came back with a 14-5 run over the next 5:04 and led 21-16 when sophomore center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) hit a short jumper in the paint with 9:41 left in the half. The Yellow Jackets then chipped away and regained the advantage at 28-27 with a Ben Umbel layup at 4:15. That lead grew to five, at 37-32, after a Brandon Schmidt layup with 1:12 left before the break. The Spartans were able to trim one off of that deficit and went into the half trailing 39-35.

In the second half, the Yellow Jackets jumped out of the gate with a 12-0 run and held Case without a point for the first 6:25 of the period. The Spartans got as close as nine, at 55-46, when Fowler hit a free throw with 9:00 left on the clock, but would get no closer as B-W cruised to the 13-point victory.