CLEVELAND, Ohio – Senior forward Tom Summers (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) scored a career-high 31 points as the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team picked up a Throwback Weekend victory versus Brandeis University (Mass.) by a score of 91-68 in front of a raucous home crowd on Friday evening at Horsburgh Gymnasium. The Spartans sported Western Reserve University Redcat uniforms as part of CWRU's seventh annual Throwback Weekend.
The Spartans (9-10, 1-7 University Athletic Association), who reached a season-high in points, used an 11-0 run to open the second half in snapping an eight-game losing skid. Brandeis (11-8, 5-3 UAA) sees its three-game win streak snapped.
Summers' 31 points were accompanied by nine rebounds. In addition, sophomore center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) contributed 12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice) added 11 and nine.
The first half was tight with neither team building a lead of more than three until a Tyrone Hughes three-point play put Brandeis ahead 18-14 at the 12:38 mark. That lead eventually grew to 20-14 before a 12-2 Spartan run ending in a jumper by freshman guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist) made the score 26-22 in favor of Case with 6:50 left before half. The two sides then played close for the duration of the half and Brandeis was able to trim three off of its deficit, trailing 36-35 at the break.
In the second, the Spartans opened on an 11-0 surge that ended in a triple by Person at 16:51, putting Case ahead 47-35. The Spartan lead then grew to 18, at 61-43, following a jumper by freshman forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) with 10:50 left to play. The Spartans kept the pressure on from there and moved ahead by 23, at 77-54, when Summers hit a pair of free throws with 5:13 remaining. The lead reached a high of 26, at 84-56, when freshman point guard Jordan Dean (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) hit two free throws with 4:10 left to play.
The Spartans continue Throwback Weekend in Case Institute of Technology uniforms this Sunday, February 5 versus New York University at 12:00 p.m.