ST. LOUIS – A 15-4 run in each half of play proved to be too much to overcome as the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team fell by a score of 78-57 at No. 21 nationally-ranked Washington University-St. Louis on Sunday afternoon inside the WU Field House.

The Spartans drop to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in the University Athletic Association. The Bears, winners of five of their last six, improve to 16-4 overall and 6-3 in the Association.

In the opening half, the Bears jumped out to a pair of five-point leads at 7-2 and 9-4 before eventually pushing their advantage to six, at 16-10, on a three-point field goal from Matt Palucki at the 13:51 mark. However, a dunk from junior center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior), a three-pointer from sophomore forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) and a free throw from Thompson fueled a 6-0 Spartan run that covered 3:31 of action and knotted the contest at 16.

The Bears answered with their first 15-4 run that was capped off by a jumper from Will Patt with 4:41 left. By halftime, however, Case whittled its deficit down to seven as Thompson hit a jump hook at the buzzer to make the score 35-28.

Out of the break, the Spartans scored the opening points via a lay-up from sophomore forward Brian Klements (Willoughby Hills, Ohio/Willoughby South), but Washington produced another 15-4 run over the next 6:26 and held a 51-34 lead following a Nick Burt free throw with 13:22 left. The Bears' lead later reached a high of 26, at 74-48, after another lay-up from Robert Burnett with 5:01 left.

The Spartans cut into the lead in the late minutes, but the Bears held on for the final 21-point margin of victory.

Senior forward Austin Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich./Birmingham Brother Rice) finished with a team-best 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Klements and Thompson also wound up in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively. Of note, Thompson led the Spartans with nine rebounds.

Washington was led by Alan Aboona's 18 points while Burnett added a double-double of 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.  

The Spartans now return home to host New York University at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 8 at Horsburgh Gymnasium.