CLEVELAND – Despite a 22-point effort from junior forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory), the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team suffered an 84-68 loss to Emory University (Ga.) in the 2014 home finale on Sunday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium.   

The Spartans fall to 13-9 for the season and 5-6 in the University Athletic Association, while the Eagles improve to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the UAA.

McLoughlin shot 9-of-14 from the field. The Spartans also saw significant contributions from senior center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) with 16 points and eight rebounds as well as senior guard Tim Chung (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos) with 11 points.  

The Eagles placed five players in double-figures, led by McPherson Moore with 20 points. Emory scored 52 points in the paint and 30 off of turnovers compared to just 30 in the paint and two off of miscues by the Spartans.

The early minutes of game saw a handful of lead changes, and the Spartans grabbed a 16-12 advantage following a McLoughlin three-pointer at the 11:06 mark. After four in a row from Emory, CWRU moved ahead for the final time with a Thompson jumper that bumped the score to 18-16 with 9:28 left before halftime. The Eagles then finished the half on a 25-8 run and led 41-26 when Michael Florin hit a jumper in the final seconds.

The Spartans weren't able to recover in the second half as Emory opened with a 12-5 spurt to lead by 22 (53-31) as Josh Schattie hit a layup with 15:59 remaining.

The Spartans will wrap up the season with three in a row on the road. Next weekend, the team is in St. Louis and Chicago. The Spartans play Washington University in St. Louis on Friday, February 21 at 8:00 p.m. (CT) then the University of Chicago at 12:00 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, Feb. 23.