ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The University of Rochester moved into second place in the University Athletic Association men's basketball standings with an 80-70 win over Case Western Reserve University on Sunday afternoon in the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Rochester passed CWRU in the standings. Sunday results in the men's race showed Emory defeating Carnegie Mellon, 87-86, in Atlanta, NYU over Chicago, 77-73, in OT in New York, and Brandeis downing Washington, 84-65, in Waltham, Mass.
 
Emory's victory and Rochester's win over CWRU clinched the UAA title outright for Emory. The Eagles are 11-2 and host Rochester next Saturday. EU clinched at least a tie for the title on Friday night with an OT win vs. Case. EU swept Case this year and held the edge on tiebreakers. The Sunday results give Emory an insurmountable lead.
 
Rochester's record sits at 16-7 overall, 8-5 in the UAA. The Yellowjackets have won three in a row and five of the last six.  Case has lost four of its last five games. The Spartans are 17-6.
 
Rochester's effort was well-balanced. Brian Amabilino Perez scored 20 points, hitting 7-10 from the floor, 6-7 at the line. He added eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Trent Noordsij scored 17 points, including three of five tjree-point shots. He had six rebound. Ross Gang scored 12 points, had eight assists, two steals, and six rebounds. Matt Niemczura scored 10 points – including a pair of treys. Dan Masino matched the 10 points.
 
Collectively, Rochester hit .453 from the field (29-64), .400 outside the arc (6-15), and .889 at the line (16-18). Case shot .388 from the floor (26-67), .361 outside the arc (6-23), and .522 from the line (12-23). The Spartans held a slim edge on the boards (43-38).

Rochester held a slight advantage in transition,, scoring 18 points off 14 Case turnovers and getting 15 points on fast breaks. Case scored 13 points from 11 UR giveaways and had 10 fast break points. Points in the paint were practically even (UR 38, Case 36) and second chance points were equal (14 apiece).
 
The Spartans had four men in double figures. Cole Frilling and Brian Hines had 15 points each. Mitch Prendergast scored 14 as did Ryan Newton. Griffin Kornaker had 10 assists and two steals. Newton led all rebounders with nine. Hines had six boards.
 
UR built a seven-point lead (20-13) through the first 10 minutes. It was capped by a putback from Amabilino Perez and a fast break layup by Niemczura. Case went on a 9-2 run to pull even at 22. Later in the half, a layup by Hines got the guests within 35-32. Four players scored for UR to build it to 43-35 in the last minute of the half. Frilling made a layup at the buzzer to leave the UR lead at 43-37.
 
They played evenly through the early part of the second half. Rochester led 51-45 on a Masino layup before Case asserted itself. Newton and Prendergast sank treys. The latter one tied the score at 53-all. Amabilino Perez scored a traditional three-point play, but Robert Faller drove for a layup (56-55 UR with 11:00 left).
 
Rochester took back control with a 10-2 run covering four minute to take a 66-57 lead: Amabilino Perez made two layups and a short hook shot. Noordsij hit a jumper in the paint, and Gang was 2-2 at the line. Case did get it down to 70-65 on a Hines layup with 5:02 remaining. Thiry seconds later, Noordsij hit his third trey of the game, this one from the left corner, for a 73-65 lead. In the last four minutes, Rochester was 7-8 at the foul line. Case made one field goal and three of six at the line.
 
Before the game, the Yellowjackets honored three players: Amabilino Perez, Noordsij, and Isaiah Smith.