Sophomore forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, MI/Brother Rice) and senior forward Alex Hildebrandt (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) each scored career-highs as the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team defeated University of Chicago (IL), 88-75, on Friday, February 4 at Horsburgh Gymnasium.

As part of Throwback Weekend, the Spartans donned Western Reserve Redcat uniforms and snapped a four-game losing skid, improving to 8-11 overall and 4-4 in the University Athletic Association. Chicago falls to 7-12 and 4-4 UAA.

Fowler totaled a team-high 25 points to go along with five rebounds. Hildebrandt totaled 17 points, while senior center Eric Duerr (Gibsonia, PA/Pine-Richland) chipped in 15 points and four boards.

Chicago was led by Matt Johnson with a game-high 26 points.

Both teams got out of the gate fast and the game was tied at 12 apiece when Chicago's Tom Williams hit a three-pointer at 15:22. The Spartans pulled ahead with a 12-0 run and led 24-12 following a Hildebrandt jumper at 12:11. Case's lead grew to a first-half high of 15, at 32-17, when Hildebrandt scored two on a layup with 8:39 left before intermission. The Maroons came back with a 17-5 run to pull within 37-34 after a Williams layup at 2:35, but the Spartans closed the half on a 7-2 run to lead 44-36.

Chicago chipped away in the second half and got as close as three when Michael Sustarsic hit two free throws to make the score 54-51 with 13:25 left to play. Undaunted, the Spartans answered with a 15-6 run to lead 69-57 when freshman point guard Mike Byrne (Newton, PA/Holy Ghost) hit a layup with 7:39 left to play. The Maroons were unable to answer as the Spartan lead never dipped below 11 the rest of the way.

The Spartans return to action on Sunday, Feb. 6 – this time in Case Institute of Technology uniforms – versus Washington University (MO) at noon.