CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team fell to No. 19 nationally-ranked New York University by a score of 98-85 in University Athletic Association action on Sunday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium. The Spartans sported Case Institute of Technology Rough Rider uniforms as part of CWRU's seventh annual Throwback Weekend.
The Spartans (9-11, 1-8 UAA) are back in action with their final conference road weekend beginning with an 8:00 p.m. (CDT) game at Washington University-St. Louis on Friday, February 10. The Violets improve to 17-2 overall and 7-2 in the UAA.
Freshman forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) led the Spartans with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range and a career-high nine rebounds. Four others scored in double-figures for Case with junior forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice) at 14, sophomore center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) at 12, freshman guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist) at 11 and junior guard Robert Scott (Paoli, Pa./Conestoga) at 10.
NYU jumped out to an 8-2 lead when Carl Yaffe nailed a three-pointer with 16:22 remaining in the first half. The Spartans cut their deficit to 8-6 when Person hit a jumper at 15:29, but the Violets came right back with five in a row to lead 13-6 as Kyle Stockmal hit two free throws at the 14:55 mark. Later in the period, Case cut it to five, at 20-15, following a triple by freshman point guard Jordan Dean (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside), but NYU created some breathing room with a 9-0 run ending in two Yaffe charity shots at 9:51. Trailing by 14, Case chipped away over the duration of the half and got to within three, at 40-37, as Fowler capped a 22-11 run with a three-point play at 3:36. From there, the Violets scored four in a row and eventually got in to the locker room with a seven-point lead (51-44) as Stockmal hit a triple at the buzzer to counter a Fowler three-pointer for Case just eight seconds earlier.
In the second half, NYU opened on a 21-6 surge and led 72-50 when Stockmal made a layup with 14:53 left to play. The run was extended to 29-11 several minutes later when Max Wein scored a layup to bring the score to 80-55, matching NYU's largest lead of the game. But, much like last weekend's game at NYU, the Spartans refused to go away and came back with a 20-6 run thanks in part to McLoughlin's hot shooting. Thompson scored the bucket that cut the deficit to 11 (86-75) with 5:42 remaining. However, NYU was able to regain control and finished on a 12-10 run to secure the victory.
Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game -- NYU at 53.3% and Case at 51.7% -- and combined for 27 three-pointers.
Yaffe led NYU with a game-high 36 points, while Stockmal totaled 23.
Following next Friday's game at Wash. U., the Spartans travel to the windy city to play the University of Chicago at 12:00 p.m. (CDT) on Sunday, Feb. 12.