Case Western Reserve University senior forward Umar Rashid scored a team-high 24 points and senior guard Sam Trunley scored 21 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to lead the Spartans to a 84-74 win over La Roche University at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland on Wednesday night.

The Spartans improved to 3-0 following the win while La Roche dropped to 0-3 with the loss.

Rashid made eight-of-11 shots overall in the game, including two-of-six from long range, and added four rebounds and a pair of blocks. Trunley hit eight-of-18 attempts from the floor, with one three-pointer on five attempts, and was a perfect six-of-six from the free throw line, while collecting a team-high seven rebounds. Graduate student forward Andy Barba added 17 points and five rebounds, and graduate student guard Wade Jackson finished the game with 10 points. Graduate student guard Christian McDaniel came off the bench to score eight points and register six steals, one short of the program's single-game record.

CWRU got off to a slow shooting start and found itself down 9-7 with 14:21 left in the first half, but back-to-back baskets by Rashid and a three by McDaniel put the Spartans in front 14-9 with 12:06 on the clock. The Spartans stretched their run to 9-1 and took a 16-10 with 9:20 remaining in the opening half, but La Roche responded with back-to-back threes to knot the score at 16-16 with 7:15 left. CWRU's lead grew to seven, 31-24, after threes on back-to-back possessions from Barba and a layup by Trunley, but once again La Roche had a response, eventually tying the game at 31-31 with 2:16 to go in the first and forcing a CWRU timeout. The Spartans came out of the timeout with a three from Rashid and a layup by sophomore guard Charlie Fox to go back up by five, 36-31, and closed out the first half with a 38-33 lead.

After making just two of their first 12 three-point attempts in the game, the Spartans made three of their final four from long range and nine of 10 overall from the floor in the first half to close out the frame shooting 31.3% from long range and 47.1% overall. Rashid finished the first half with 15 points and Barba added 11 over the first 20 minutes of the game.

The Spartans and the Redhawks found themselves tied again early in the second half, this time at 40-40 with 18:03 on the clock. CWRU answered again with a 9-2 run, keyed by a pair of steals by McDaniel that led to three points and gave the Spartans a 49-42 lead with 14:17 to go. CWRU's lead grew to as many as nine points before a 7-0 run by the Redhawks cut it back to two points, 53-51, with 9:58 to play in the game. However, CWRU held off La Roche and eventually increased its lead to 72-61 with 4:51 left after a layup from McDaniel. The Spartans led by as many as 12 points over the final four minutes of the game to close out the win.

CWRU finished the game shooting 44.1% overall, 25.0% from three-point range, and 77.3% from the free throw line.

The Spartans will begin a stretch of three straight road games starting this Saturday, November 16 when the team travels to Houghton, New York for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff against Houghton University.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU improved to 4-0 all-time against La Roche with each of the four matchups taking place over the last four seasons.

• This was the sixth time in program history and third-straight season that the Spartans have opened the season with a 3-0 record. CWRU also began its year 3-0 in 1990-91, 2014-15, 2018-19, 2022-23, and 2023-24.

• The Spartans have now won 34 consecutive non-conference regular-season games dating back to the 2021-22 season.

• CWRU finished the game with a 21-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 44-30 edge in points in the paint. The Spartans forced 12 turnovers while committing just five.