CLEVELAND, OH – For the second consecutive day, the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team staged a late rally, only to come up short in the end. This time, the Spartans dropped a 71-63 decision to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN) in the consolation game of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Memorial Tournament on Saturday, November 20 at Horsburgh Gymnasium.
With the loss, the Spartans fall to 1-2 overall and will return to action on Tuesday, November 23 at Denison University at 7:00 p.m. in Granville. Rose-Hulman gets its first win and now sits at 1-1.
Each side came out cold in the first half, but the Spartans were able to build a nine-point lead, at 15-6, when freshman guard Tim Chung (Cypress, CA/Los Alamitos) nailed a three-pointer at the 9:02 mark. The Engineers chipped away at their deficit over the duration of the half and eventually moved ahead 23-30 when Nate Gissentanner hit two three throws with 00:59 remaining in the half.
Case tied the game when senior guard Ryan Bokan (Boise, ID/Bishop Kelly) hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer, making the score 23-23 at the break.
The Spartans regained the advantage early in the second and led 38-34 when senior wing Reid Anderson (Avon Lake, OH/St. Edward) hit a three-pointer at 13:28. Rose-Hulman then exploded with a 19-1 run and led 53-39 when Jason Haslag canned a triple with 7:51 left to play.
As they did yesterday versus Washington & Jefferson College, the Spartans began a furious rally and pulled all the way to within three, at 66-63, when freshman point guard Mike Byrne (Newton, PA/Holy Ghost) hit a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining. However, Rose-Hulman was able to get to the line twice down the strech and connected on all five shots to close out the 71-63 win.
Sophomore forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, MI/Brother Rice) led the Spartans with his first career double-double of 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Anderson totaled 11 points and Chung chipped in with 10.
Rose-Hulman was led by Blake Knotts with a game-high 20 points. Nate Gissentanner and Julian Strickland also scored in double-figures with 14 and 12, respectively.
The Spartans outshot the Engineers from the field, 48.8 percent to 39.3%, and held the advantage on the boards, 32-29. Free throw shooting proved to be a big difference as RHIT hit 20-of-24 (83.3%) and the Spartans connected on only 10-of-18 (55.6%).
Following Tuesday's game at Denison, the Spartans are back in action on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 27-28, at the John Steadman Classic hosted by John Carroll University.