ROCHESTER, N.Y. – John DiBartolomeo scored 28 points while Chris Dende and Nate Novosel combined for 29 more off the bench as the University of Rochester defeated Washington University, 83-78, at the Louis Alexander Palestra.

Dende scored 17 points, hitting six of 11 from the floor, three of seven outside the arc. Novosel hit five of seven from the field, two of four from the line for 12 points. DiBartolomeo hit seven of 14 from the floor, three of five outside the arc, and 11 of 12 three-pointers. He added five assists and two steals.

Spencer Gay led Washington with a double-double, scoring 23 points and collecting 10 rebounds. Caleb Knepper had 12 points. Alex Toth and Dylan Richter had 11 apiece.

The win was Rochester's ninth in a row. The Yellowjackets are 18-4 overall, 10-1 in the University Athletic Association. Rochester holds a one-game lead over Emory University (9-2) for the UAA's automatic bid. 

It's down to a two-team race now. With three games left, no other team is closer than five games out. Rochester plays at Carnegie Mellon on Friday. Emory goes to Case. On Sunday, Rochester goes to Case and Emory plays at Carnegie. Rochester goes to Emory for the season finale on February 26.

Washington used its size and ball movement to jump to an early lead. The Bears went ahead by 10 on back to back layups by Gay (14-4) with less than six minutes elapsed. The lead reached 15 on layups by Toth and Gay followed by a three-pointer from Knepper (21-6, 12:44 left). 

Rochester whittled it down to one point, 36-35, on a layup by Nate Vernon with 56 seconds left. Gay's layup put the Bears ahead, 38-35, at halftime. 

Dylan Richter had four points in a 6-0 run that gave the Bears a 55-47 lead with 12:28 to play. Dende drove for a layup and hit a three-pointer followed by a Novosel layup to get Rochester within a point again, this time at 55-54, with 10:54 left.

It stayed tight for the next six minutes. Rochester finally took the lead for good, 70-68, on a Dende fast break layup that started a 7-0 burst. The key basket was a three-pointer by Mike Labanowski from left wing as the shot clock wound down. It gavce the Yellowjackets a 75-68 lead with 2:35 left. Rochester made six free throws – three by DiBartolomeo – in the last 68 seconds to clinch the win.