CLEVELAND – Sophomore forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) scored a game-high 18 points and hit four of his team's 11 three-pointers, but the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team ended Throwback Weekend with a 74-69 loss to No. 24 nationally-ranked Washington University-St. Louis in University Athletic Association action on Sunday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium.
As part of CWRU's eighth annual Throwback Weekend, the Spartans donned uniforms commemorating the Case Institute of Technology Rough Riders.
The Spartans (9-9, 2-5 UAA) will look to get back on track next weekend with a conference road trip in Chicago and St. Louis. With the victory, the Bears (14-4, 4-3 UAA) extend their win streak to three.
For the game, the Spartans shot 11-of-21 from beyond the arc compared to just 4-of-14 for the Bears. The visitors dominated inside however with a 38-24 advantage in rebounding and a 36-28 discrepancy in points in the paint.
McLoughlin, the nation's top three-point shooter, was one of three Spartans in double figures as junior guard Tim Chung (Cyrpress, Calif./Los Alamitos) scored 14 and sophomore forward Brian Klements (Willoughby Hills, Ohio/Willoughby South) added 12.
The Spartans matched the Bears in the opening minutes thanks to a pair of three-pointers from McLoughlin, the second of which gave the hosts a 13-12 lead at the 14:40 mark. The Bears then used a 10-0 run and led 22-13 as Matt Palucki hit a jumper to close the spurt with 11:42 left before the break. Overall in the opening eight-plus minutes, Washington scored 16 points in the paints compared to just two for Case.
That lead would eventually reach a high of 13, 28-15, following a Rob Burnett layup at 8:49, but the Spartans quickly answered with a 12-1 run of their own with McLoughlin providing a jumper to bring the score to 29-27 at 4:42. Three and a half minutes later, the Spartans pulled even at 32-32 when McLoughlin drilled another triple with 1:02 remaining in the clock, and the game would eventually go to break tied at 34-34.
In the second half, the Spartans rode the back of Klements for the opening minutes as his six straight points put Case ahead 44-40 with 16:54 left in the contest. The Bears then rattled off nine in a row to take a 49-44 lead before McLoughlin knocked down another three ball to cut the deficit to two with 14:19 remaining.
The teams continued to trade baskets and score was knotted at 56 at the 8:12 mark before Burnett gave the Bears the lead for good at 58-56 with a layup at 7:46. That bucket started a 6-0 run, and the visitors maintained their advantage until a triple by Chung got Case to within one, 70-69, with 1:50 remaining. However, the Bears picked up an insurance basket on the ensuing possession and withstood a pair of Spartan three-point tries in the final 20 seconds to secure the win.
The Bears had four in double figures, including Chris Klimek with 16.
The Spartans leave the friendly confines of Horsburgh for a two-game road trip that begins with an 8:00 p.m. (CDT) tip-off at the University of Chicago (Ill.) next Friday, February 1. A rematch with Washington is on tap for Sunday at 12:00 p.m. (CDT) in St. Louis.