The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team dropped its second game in a row, falling 105-93 to Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia on Wednesday evening.

The loss dropped the Spartans to 3-2 for the season while Bethany improved to 4-0 with the win.

Senior guard Sam Trunley scored 31 points in the loss to lead all scorers, his second effort of 30 or more points this season. He finished the game shooting 11-of-22, including six-of-13 from three-point range, and made three-of-four free throw attempts. Trunley added 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year and dished out a team-high five assists with two steals.

Graduate student forward Andy Barba added a career-high 23 points on an eight-of-22 shooting effort, including four-of-16 from long range. Senior forward Umar Rashid registered his third double-double of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a block and two steals.

The Spartans trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, finding themselves on the wrong side of a 32-18 score with 8:37 left in the opening frame following a 16-2 run by the Bison. However, the Spartans were able to significantly close the gap by the end of the first half. Five straight points from Trunley followed by a three-pointer from Barba made it a 32-26 game with just under five minutes left in the frame, and CWRU pulled within two points, 39-37, on a layup by Rashid with 1:59 to go. Bethany increased its lead back to seven points with 23 seconds left in the half, but first-year guard Matthew Ellis followed with a three and after a steal by graduate student guard Christian McDaniel with 12 seconds to go in the period gave the Spartans the ball back, Trunley knocked down a three at the buzzer to cut the Bison lead to a point, 46-45, heading into halftime.

Trunley scored 10 of his 13 first-half points in the final seven minutes of the frame to help lead CWRU's resurgence in the game.

The Spartans' momentum was short-lived, as Bethany opened the second half with five straight points to build a six-point advantage less than 90 seconds into the period. CWRU cut it back to a point, 58-57, with 15:55 to go on a layup by Trunley, but the Bison answered by scoring 10 unanswered points and 25 of the next 29 points in the game to build a 22-point advantage by the 10:44 mark.

The Bison led by as many as 24 points in the second half but the Spartans scored nine straight to cut the advantage down to 15 points, 90-75, by the 6:04 mark, and got it back to single digits with a layup by Barba that made it 97-88 with 1:57 to play. CWRU got as close as seven points over the final two minutes of the game, but the Bison ultimately pulled away for the victory.

The Spartans will be off through Thanksgiving, returning to action on Wednesday, December 4 on the road against Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans finished the game shooting 41.4% overall and 22.2% from behind the three-point line.

• Trunley has scored 20 or more points four times through the team's first five games and is averaging 27.8 points per game this season. He entered the game leading all Division III players in points scored.

• CWRU fell to 16-18 all-time against Bethany. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 2016-17

• CWRU Head Men's Basketball Coach Todd McGuinness faced his alma mater this evening, after graduating from Bethany in 2002. This was just his second game against Bethany as a head coach.