ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A 15-0 Washington University-St. Louis run to begin the second half of play proved to be too much for the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team as the Spartans fell by a score of 78-60 on Friday evening inside the WU Field House.
The Spartans drop to 9-12 overall and 1-9 in the rugged University Athletic Association. Washington, winners of four of its last five, improves to 16-5 overall and 8-2 in the UAA.
Trading baskets over the opening portion of the first half, the Spartans trailed by two, at 10-8, with just under seven minutes elapsed. Freshman point guard Jordan Dean (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) and junior forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice) produced a quick 6-0 spurt knocking down three-point field goals on consecutive possessions to put the Spartans ahead, 14-10, at 11:19. The lead eventually moved to six (18-12) on a jumper by senior forward Tom Summers (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) with an assist from junior guard Robert Scott (Paoli, Pa./Conestoga) at 8:30. However, the Bears slowly chipped away over the remainder of the half and eventually cut the Spartan halftime lead to just one (27-26) as Alan Aboona hit a triple for the Bears with four ticks left.
Out of the break, the Bears rode the wave of momentum from Aboona's three-pointer, utilizing a 15-0 run to take a 41-27 advantage with just under 17 minutes left. On the next Case possession, Dean stemmed the tide knocking down a shot from beyond the arc starting an 8-0 Spartan run finished off by a three-point field goal by freshman guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist), making the score 41-35 with 15:31 remaining. Washington responded with an 18-7 run over the next four-plus minutes of action possessing its largest lead of the game at 59-42 with 9:30 left.
Not done yet, the Spartans came back with a 12-2 run of their own capped off by a free throw make from sophomore center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) to bring the deficit to seven (61-54) with 6:08 showing on the clock. However, the Bears slowly pulled away for the final 18-point margin of victory.
Fowler collected his fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Summers finished with 14 markers and nine boards for the Spartans.
Washington was led by Chris Klimek's 17 points as all five Bear starters ended up in double-figures.