CLEVELAND – Senior center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) scored a career-high 22 points as the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team opened the 2013-14 season with a 70-64 victory versus Anderson University (Ind.) on the opening night of the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Memorial Tournament at Horsburgh Gymnasium.

The Spartans (1-0) advance to play Kenyon College (1-0) in the tournament championship tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. The Ravens (0-1) will play in the consolation game versus Otterbein University (0-1) at 5 p.m.

Overall, the game saw eight lead changes and 10 ties as neither team side built an advantage of more than four until the Spartans moved ahead 60-55 on a Thompson free throw with 3:23 left to play. Rebounding and free throw shooting proved to be the deciding factors as the Spartans won the battle on the boards, 34-25, and led at the charity stripe, .700 to .375.

Thompson's 22 points came on a brilliant 8-of-9 shooting performance as the Spartans shot .545 as a team. The senior co-captain also grabbed eight rebounds.

In addition, junior forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) contributed 13 points and five boards, while sophomore point guard Jimmy Holman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) tallied a career-best nine assists.

In the first half, Thompson electrified an already raucous home crowd with a first-possession dunk that made the score 2-0. The two teams then traded leads over the following minutes before a 5-0 Spartan run capped by a three from senior guard Tim Chung (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos) made the score 16-12 in favor of the hosts at the 13:41 mark. Case held that lead until 8:37 as Nate Gross hit a layup to put Anderson in front 21-20 as part of a 12-4 run that eventually moved the score to 24-20 with 7:59 left before the break.  A quick Spartan run ensued and led to several more lead changes, but a Brett Anderson free throw put the Ravens on top 33-32 at halftime.

In the second, back-and-forth play resumed until Case moved back in front 42-40 following a fast-break layup from sophomore forward Spencer Boyd (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) at 13:36. The Ravens cut the deficit to three on multiple occasions, the latest coming at 63-60, with a Nate Gross layup at 2:01, but the Spartans put the game away two possessions later when junior guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist) hit a clutch bucket in the lane to make the score 66-60 with 35 seconds on the scoreboard.

Anderson placed three players in double-figures, including Max Mollaun and Gross with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Following tomorrow's tournament finale, the Spartans open the road portion of the schedule in the second game of a women's and men's doubleheader at cross-town rival Baldwin Wallace University at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 19.