On Wednesday night at the Beeghly Gymnasium in Greenville, Pennsylvania, the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team earned its first road win of the season with an 88-50 victory over Thiel College. The Spartans improve to 4-3 with the win, while the Tomcats drop to 2-4.
Sophomore forward Ryan Newton scored a game-high 17 points on eight-of-12 shooting and added a career-high five blocks. Newton also collected seven rebounds in the contest. Overall, senior forward Michael Hollis led the team with 16 rebounds, one shy of a career high and the most by a Spartan so far this season, and scored nine points on Wednesday.
For the game, the Spartans shot 48.4% from the field and 46.7% from three-point range. The team's 14 made three-pointers are a season high and the most since CWRU made 16 against Kalamazoo College on December 8, 2018. Thirteen different players scored for the Spartans during Wednesday night's game.
Case Western Reserve opened the game on a 20-0 run, holding the Tomcats scoreless for the first 6:54. All five CWRU starters put points on the board over the course of the run.
Thiel cut the deficit to 13 midway through the first half with a 7-0 run of its own. A three-pointer from first-year forward Cole Frilling a few minutes later gave Case Western Reserve a 20-point lead again, 30-10. Over the last four minutes of the half, the Spartans went on a 10-0 run to take a 43-17 lead going into halftime.
Seven Spartans scored in the first half, with senior guard Sam Hansen leading the team with nine points. Hollis, who scored seven points in the half, also collected a team-high 11 rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
CWRU opened the second half similar to the first, starting the period on a 12-3 run. The run pushed the lead to 35 points, 55-20. With under three minutes to go, free throws from first-year guard Connor Ryan gave the Spartans an 83-43 advantage, the squad's largest lead of the night.
Combined with a 51-45 victory over Denison University last Tuesday, the Spartans have held two consecutive opponents to 50 points or fewer for the first time in program history.
The Spartans return home on Saturday, December 7 to face Adrian College (3-4). Tipoff is scheduled for noon at Horsburgh Gymnasium.