St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 30, 2018 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team handed No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges its first loss of the season Friday evening during the opening round of the 35th Annual Lopata Classic, beating the Sage Hens 66-62 in the WU Field House.
WashU has won three-straight games and improved to 4-2 in the process while Pomona-Pitzer fell to 4-1 on the year. The Bears forced 14 turnovers, including seven steals while converting 8-of-9 free-throws to help close out the win.
Sophomore Jack Nolan hit a lead changing three-pointer in the second half to give WashU a 63-61 lead with two minutes left. The Sage Hens sank 1-of-2 free-throws to pull within one-point with 1:38 left and the Bears closed out the victory with 3-of-4 shots from the charity stripe including two free-throws by junior Hank Hunter to put WashU ahead 66-62.
Hunter also had a block with 72 ticks on the clock and three defensive rebounds down the stretch.
Freshman Justin Hardy led the Bears with 20 points, while shooting 50-percent from the field (9-18). Senior Marcus Meyer corralled a game-high 13 rebounds.
WashU takes on University of Wisconsin-Platteville in the 35th Annual Lopata Classic Championship game on Saturday at 7 p.m. Wisconsin-Platteville defeated Alma in the opening game 88-61.
The Bears held a 37-27 advantage at the break after holding a 16 point lead with less than two minutes remaining in the half.
Hardy led the Bears with 11 points at the midway point, while Meyer added eight points and grabbed eight of his 13 rebounds. Hardy hit 5-of-9 from the field and Meyer converted all four free-throw attempts.
WashU totaled five steals with five Bears coming up with a swipe apiece. The Red & Green also held a 20-14 advantage in rebounding including five offensive boards.
Daniel Rosenbaum finished with a game-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-19 shots for the Sage Hens. Corbin Koch grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds for Pomona-Pitzer. Alex Preston tallied four blocks.
BEAR NOTEBOOK
• WashU leads the all-time series with Pomona-Pitzer 9-3 and the teams met for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
• The Bears have outrebounded all six opponents this season.