ATLANTA – Sophomore forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) scored 28 points on a career best 7-of-9 from three-point range, but the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team fell by a score of 106-87 at Emory University during University Athletic Association action inside the Woodruff PE Center.
With the loss, the Spartans drop to 11-12 and to 4-8 in the UAA. With their sixth-straight victory, the Eagles improve to 16-6 and 8-4 in the UAA.
In addition to McLoughlin, senior forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice) chipped in with his sixth double-double this season and 17th for his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Other notable performances for the Spartans came from freshman point guard Jimmy Holman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), who dropped in eight points and tallied a team-best three assists, while junior center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) added eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks and sophomore guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist) chipped in with 11.
In the first half, Case built a three point advantage, 7-4, after Holman made a layup with 16:37 left. However, Emory responded with a 27-5 run that spanned nearly seven minutes and made the score 31-12 with 9:40 left. On the next possession, Person ended a Spartan scoring drought of almost six minutes when he converted a three-point field goal. Following another three from junior guard Tim Chung (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos), the Eagles once again answered with 17-3 run covering 4:54 of play as Jake Davis converted one of two free throws to give Emory a 26-point lead, 49-23.
The Spartans didn't go away however, utilizing two threes from McLoughlin as part of a 17-5 run to close the half and cut the deficit to 18, 56-38.
The Spartans scored the first five points of the second half to cut the deficit to 13, 56-43, with 19:00 remaining, but Emory responded with a 20-7 run including threes from four different players as the lead ballooned back to 26, 76-50, with 15:05 remaining. Just under three minutes later, McLoughlin knocked down his career-best seventh shot from beyond the arc and cut the deficit to 22, at 82-60. However, the Spartans weren't able to get any closer and Emory cruised to the 19-point win.
Emory was paced by Alex Greven's 26 points on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, while Jake Davis added 25.
The Spartans will now travel to upstate New York and battle the University of Rochester for their final road contest of the season on Sunday, February 17 at 12:00 p.m.