Case Western Reserve University senior Sam Trunley scored a game-high 27 points and junior guard Anand Dharmarajan added a career-best 20 points, as the Spartans raced past the 24th-ranked University of Chicago in the second half for an 83-79 win over the Maroons in the final game of the season at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland on Sunday.

The Spartans ended a four-game losing streak with the win, improving to 7-15 overall with a 3-8 University Athletic Association record. Chicago saw its stretch of back-to-back wins come to a close, as the Maroons dropped to 16-6 overall with a 7-4 conference ledger.

Playing in his final home game as a Spartan, Trunley did not come off the floor on Sunday, making eight-of-18 shots overall, five-of-nine three-point attempts, and six-of-seven free throws, with two rebounds, four assists, and two steals. In addition to recording a career-best mark for points scored in a game, Dharmarajan also set his single-game bests with seven made baskets on 13 attempts, four made three-point shots on eight attempts, five rebounds, and five assists.

Also playing all 40 minutes in the final home game of his career was senior forward Umar Rashid, who filled up the box score with 18 points, six rebounds, a career-high matching five assists, four steals, and a pair of blocks. He made eight-of-17 shot attempts in the game and connected on a pair of threes on nine attempts.

After Chicago opened the game with a basket to take a 2-0 lead, the Spartans immediately responded with seven straight points to go ahead 7-2 with 17:40 left in the first. A three by Rashid with 16:34 left in the half put the Spartans in front 10-6, their largest lead of the half, but Chicago responded with six-straight points to take the lead back. The game remained close, with the two teams going seven-straight possessions without missing a shot, as the Maroons came out of the stretch with a four-point lead, 23-19, with 11:47 to play in the period. CWRU was still behind by four, 38-34, with under six minutes left in the period, before the Maroons' lead ballooned to 10 points, 48-38, by the 2:05 mark. A three from Rashid and a layup by first-year Nolan Demski to close the period pulled CWRU within five points, 48-43, by halftime.

CWRU shot a blistering 54.8% (17-31) from the floor in the first period and made 38.9% (7-18) of its three-point attempts, helping the team withstand a barrage from the Maroons in the frame, who made 59.4% (19-32) of their shots and 52.9% (9-17) from behind the arc. Trunley led all CWRU scorers at halftime with 15 points while Dharmarajan and Rashid each scored 10.

The Spartans' hot shooting continued into the second half, as the team opened the frame on an 11-3 run over the first three minutes of action, retaking the lead by the 18:00 mark after a traditional three-point play from graduate student guard Christian McDaniel and going up 54-51 after a jumper by Rashid with 17:21 left in the game. CWRU continued to add on over the next 10 minutes, taking a double-digit lead for the first time in the game after a three from sophomore guard Charlie Fox with 7:33 to go put the Spartans ahead 72-61.

Chicago began to eat away at the CWRU lead over the next four minutes, cutting the Spartans' advantage to just four points, 79-75, with 3:47 left in the game. With the Spartans ahead by six, 81-75, with 1:28 to play, senior forward Andrew Fox blocked a shot on a second chance opportunity for Chicago and collected the rebounds to help preserve the lead. The Maroons would get back within four points over the final minute of the game, but Rashid blocked a three-point attempt with 10 seconds left to hold off Chicago and help preserve the 83-79 victory.

The Spartans turned the ball over just five times against Chicago while forcing 10, resulting in a 16-7 edge in points off turnovers. CWRU also held a 30-20 edge in points in the paint and a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points. CWRU finished the game shooting 50.0% overall (31-62), 40.0% from long range (12-30), and 81.8% from the free throw line (9-11).

The Spartans will be on the road for their remaining three games of the season, including next weekend when the team travels to face Brandeis University on Friday night and second-ranked New York University on Sunday afternoon.

Spartan Notes

• This was the Spartans' second win of the year against a nationally-ranked opponent after beating 24th-ranked Carnegie Mellon on January 11. CWRU is now 2-7 against top-25 teams this year.

• Dharmarajan's 20 points eclipsed his previous career high of 12 points in a game, set on February 7 of this season against Rochester.

• Rashid's 18 points on Sunday give him 981 for his career. He is now just 19 points away from becoming the 20th player in program history with 1,000 career points.

• Rashid's two blocks in the game give him 41 for the campaign, tying him for the seventh-most in a season in program history. He is now four blocks away from matching his career high of 45, set during the 2022-23 season, and 12 blocks shy of the program single-season record of 52, set by Brian Arenschield during the 1994-95 campaign.

• Trunley, who entered the game 17th among Division III players with 22.4 points per game, recorded his seventh game of 25 or more points this year. With the 27-point effort, he now has 497 for the season, the third-most in team history behind only Ed Saxon's 529 in 1989-90 and Anthony Mazzeo's 545 in 2023-24.

• CWRU, which entered the game ranked 18th among Division III teams with 10.4 made three-pointers per game, connected on 12 three-point shots on Sunday.

• The Spartans finished the 2024-25 season with a 6-7 record in home games at Horsburgh Gymnasium.

• CWRU improved to 26-45 all-time against Chicago with Sunday's win and has now won five of the last eight matchups, including a split of the two games this season and the last two contests played in Cleveland.