ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Freshman guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist) scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field, but the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team dropped an 86-68 decision at the University of Rochester in University Athletic Association action on Friday night at the Palestra.
The Spartans (8-7, 0-4 UAA) continue a four-game conference road trip on Sunday, January 22 at Emory University at 12:00 p.m. in Atlanta, Georgia. Rochester (10-5, 1-3 UAA) picks up its first conference victory.
Person's perfect shooting night included a career-best four three-pointers. He was joined in double-figures by senior forward Tom Summers (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional), who totaled 13 points and seven rebounds, as well as sophomore center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior), who added 13 and four.
Case trailed 11-6 early before a three-pointer by freshman point guard Jordan Dean (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) brought the score to 11-9 at the 15:26 mark. Rochester opened the game up with a 19-6 run that increased its advantage to 30-15 as Marcus Williams scored a layup at 10:21. Case's deficit hit as many as 22 when Nate Novosel drove to the basket for two points to make the score 42-20 with 7:24 left in the half.
Undaunted, the Spartans rallied with a 16-2 run that brought the score to 44-36 as Thompson scored a layup with 1:33 remaining before intermission. Rochester added two more to its lead and went into the break ahead, 48-38.
In the second half, the Spartans opened on a 6-0 run that ended with a Dean layup that made the score 48-44 with 17:39 left to play. Rochester came back with a 7-0 spurt of their own and led by 11 when Chris Dende hit a three-pointer at 16:13. After five in a row by Case, the Yellowjackets put the game away with a 12-1 run that culminated in a layup by Rob Reid, making the score 67-50 with 9:22 left to play.
For the game, U of R was paced by Novosel with a game-high 23 points and John Dibartolomeo with 14 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals.