CLEVELAND, Ohio -  The Brandeis University men's basketball team put three starters in double figures, but  the host Case Western Reserve University Spartans had five as they defeated the visiting Judges, 74-66, in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest tonight in Horsburgh Gymnasium. With the loss, Brandeis falls to 9-8 overall, 1-5 in the UAA. The Spartans improve to 11-6, 3-3 UAA.

The first 23 minutes of the game were tightly contested, featuring eight ties and 12 lead changes. With the Judges ahead, 41-38, after a pair of Robinson Vilmont (Cambridge, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson Acad.) free throws at the 17:00 mark, Case Western Reserve went on the key run of the game. The Spartans scored the next 10 in a row over the next 2:31, with senior David Thompson playing a key role, scoring two baskets and grabbing a pair of defensive rebounds as Case held the Judges to just one missed shot on three-straight possessions. The Spartans also got a pair of 3-pointers in the key run, from sophomore Jimmy Holman, who gave Case the lead for good at the 15:45 mark and senior Tim Chung, whose trifecta at the 14:49 mark made it a 48-41 game in favor of the hosts. Brandeis got within four points a couple of times the rest of the way, but never any close than two possessions.

In the first half, the largest lead for either team was eight, when the Spartans opened up a 20-12 lead, but Brandeis answered with  an 11-3 run to tie the game at 23 on an Ishmael Kalilou (Stafford, Conn./) bucket. The Judges would eventually reclaim the lead and eventual go up by four, 31-27, on a Gabriel Moton (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg) bucket with just under two minutes left in the stanza. Chung hit two from the free throw line on the Spartans' next trip and the teams came up empty in the final 107 seconds of the half as Brandeis took a 31-29 lead into the break.

The lead changed hands eight times in the first three minutes in the second half before Case went on the key run. The Spartans held off the Judges by shooting  57.1% (16-28) in the second after just 33.3% in the first (10-30). Meanwhile, after hitting 44.8% in the first (13-39), the Judges fell to 39.4% in the second (13-33).

For the game, Brandeis was led by Moton and senior Ben Bartoldus (Hillsborough, N.H./Proctor Acad.), who had similar stat lines of 17 points and five rebounds. Classmate Alex Stoyle (Goffstown, N.H./) added 16 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double. He had a terrific second half, when he scored 13 points and had six caroms and two blocked shots, finishing with four to tie his career-best. Bartoldus had three assists to help the Judges.

Case finished with all five starters in double figures, paced by Thompson's game-highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds. Chung added 17 points, thanks to  four 3-pointers on the day. Dane McLaughlin and Julien Person had 12 points each, while Holman had 11 points and a game-high four assists. With the win, the home team has now won nine in a row in this matchup.

Brandeis will look for their second UAA win of the season on Sunday at Carnegie Mellon with an 11 a.m. tipoff. Case will take on NYU at 1 p.m.