St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 15, 2016 – The No. 20-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team opened the 2016-17 season with a 60-59 victory at Webster University Tuesday at Grant Gymnasium in St. Louis.

WashU improved to 1-0 with the win, while Webster dropped to 0-1. The Bears improved to 23-13 in season openers in head coach Mark Edwards' 36 years at WashU, including winning the last 11.

With WashU Leading 60-59 with one second on the clock, Webster's Enrique Tankins missed a pair of free-throws and the Bears held on for the one-point win.

Junior forward Matt Highsmith had 14 points and eight boards off the bench, while junior Andrew Sanders just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Kevin Kucera added 11 points.

The Bears shot 39.7 percent (25-of-63) from the field and hit just 5-of-21 from three-point range. WashU outrebounded Webster 47-29.

Sanders had the hot hand early in the contest scoring eight of the Bears' first 14 points as WashU built a 14-8 lead. The Bears missed their first seven shots from behind the arc, and a bucket by Tankins tied the contest at 16-16.

Back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Will Galik and senior Michael Bregman gave WashU its largest largest of the game at 28-19 with 4:51 to play.

The Bears took a 30-25 lead to half despite shooting 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the field. Sanders had eight points and six points to lead WashU.

A back and forth second half saw WashU hold onto a four-point lead with less than 10 minutes to play, and then Kucera nailed a three to extend the advantage to 49-42 with 9:38 to play.

Webster followed with a 7-0 run to tie the score at 49-49, and then Kucera hit another three to put WashU up for good at 56-53.

Evan Milligan led Webster with 14 points, while CJ Moore (13) and Hunter Ward (12) also scored in double figures.

WashU returns to action Saturday, Nov. 19, at DePauw University. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (ET) in Greencastle, Ind.

BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Webster, 23-2, and the Bears have won the last six meetings … The Bears had 19 assists on 25 field goals … WashU had a 23-6 advantage in second-chance points.