Box Score The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team, ranked 19th in Division III, suffered an 85-77 setback to the University of Chicago at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.
The loss was the Spartans' first at home this season, as the team dropped to 12-3 overall and to 2-3 in University Athletic Association play. The Maroons improved to 8-8 with the win, including a 1-4 conference record.
Graduate student guard Mitch Prendergast led all players with 25 points, his third-straight game with 25 or more, while adding five assists. Sophomore forward Umar Rashid added 13 points and three blocks and graduate student guard Danny Frauenheim scored 12 points, shooting four-of-six from long range in the game.
Chicago took an early 9-6 lead, but the Spartans answered with a 7-0 run to go ahead 13-9 on a jumper by Prendergast with 15:06 left in the period. The Maroons responded with a 7-0 run of their own to take a three-point lead with 13:57 left in the half, and the two teams would go back and forth over the next few minutes. Chicago grabbed a 25-23 edge with 7:46 on the clock and held the lead for the remainder of the half, ending the first 20 minutes with a 43-35 lead, their largest of the opening half.
The Maroons led by as many as 12 in the second half, and the Spartans could not cut it to less than a two-possession game during the period, despite a few late runs that kept the team in the game. A three-pointer by Frauenheim with 3:54 to play, followed by a Chicago turnover, gave the Spartans the ball back down just seven, but a missed three allowed the opportunity to pass by, and the Maroons built their lead back to 12, 73-61, with 2:56 to go. In the final minute, Prendergast connected on a three to pull CWRU back to within five points, 79-74, and after a Chicago layup, Frauenheim followed with a three with seven seconds left to get the Spartans within four, 81-77. However, Chicago hit four free throws down the stretch to cement its win.
The Spartans will continue their conference schedule next weekend, wrapping up the first half of UAA play on the road at Brandeis on Friday night and at New York University on Sunday afternoon.
