St. Louis, Mo., January 27, 2012 – Senior Dylan Richter had 23 points and junior Ben Hoener added a career-best 20 points off the bench as the Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team posted an 83-78 victory over the University of Rochester on Friday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis.

Richter was 7-of-11 from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line as he notched his 43rd career double-figure scoring game. Hoener was near perfect in his career night, going 6-of-7 from the field and 7-of-8 at the foul line with six assists. Sophomore Chris Klimek added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while senior Alex Toth filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, seven boards and a career-best five steals. The Bears shot a season-high 58.3 percent (28-48) and connected on 22-of-29 free-throws in the win.

Washington University (13-4, 5-1 UAA) moved into sole possession of first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) standings with the win. Chicago upset No. 4 ranked Emory University 103-102 behind Matt Johnson's school-record 49 points, and Carnegie Mellon University upset No. 17 New York University, 70-68.

Richter drained a three-pointer from the wing and added a lay-up as Washington U. built an early 10-5 lead. The Bears connected on their first four shots of the game. Rochester answered back with a 14-2 run as the Yellowjackets took their largest lead of the half at 18-12 following a lay-up from Nathan Novesel.

Hoener came off the bench and ignited a 15-2 run for Washington U. to get the lead back to seven (27-20). He nailed a three-pointer from the wing and added a steal and a lay-up before a timeout by Rochester. The Bears got a stop on the defensive end following the timeout, and then Toth's one-handed dunk got the crowd on its feet to push the advantage to its largest of the half at nine (29-20).

A pair of three-pointers by Tyler Seidman quickly got the lead down to two, but three-straight points by Klimek got the lead back to 50-45. Washington University held onto a six-point advantage (60-54) following a pair of three-pointers by Richter with 10:01 to play. Richter's second three ignited a 7-0 run, capped by a steal and dunk by Richter to get the lead to double figures at 64-54 with 9:07 to play.

The game was back and forth for the next seven minutes, and a pair of free-throws by John DiBartolomeo trimmed Washington U.'s lead to 74-72 with 1:30 remaining. Hoener followed with a jumper to get the lead to four, and then freshman Matt Palucki hit his second three-pointer of the year with the shot clock winding down to make it 79-72 with 27 seconds left. Nate Vernon's three cut the lead to 81-78, but Hoener sealed the victory with two free-throws with seven seconds remaining.

Vernon (21 points), DiBartolomeo (19 points, eight assists) and Seidman (15 points) all scored in double figures for Rochester, which dropped to 11-6, 2-4 in the UAA. The Yellowjackets shot 50.9 percent (27-53) from the field in the loss, and hit 15-of-16 from the foul line.

Washington U. hosts Emory on Sunday, Jan. 29, at Noon, to wrap up its four-game homestand.

Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time meeting with Rochester 31-20, and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Yellowjackets … Richter is now just 51 points shy of 1,000 for his career … The Bears have outrebounded 13 of their 17 opponents and improved to 8-1 at home … Washington U. has won 79 of its last 85 games when leading at the half … Hoener is shooting a conference-best 73.3 percent (22-30) from the field in UAA games only.