The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team kicked off its 2024-25 campaign with a dominating victory, claiming a 99-72 win over Penn State Altoona at the Bill Sudeck Tournament in Cleveland in Horsburgh Gymnasium.

CWRU will now advance to the championship game of the tournament where they will face SUNY Brockport, which bested SUNY Canton 98-70 earlier in the day.

Senior guard Sam Trunley led all players in the game with 23 points, shooting eight-of-11 overall and four-of-six from three-point range, while adding seven rebounds, five assists, and a steal. Senior forward Umar Rashid notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, shooting seven-of-11 from the floor and three-of-four from long range, and collected five assists, two steals, and a pair of blocks. Graduate student forward Andy Barba added 17 points with seven rebounds in his Spartan debut.

The Spartans nearly led wire-to-wire in the game. Barba connected on his first three shots of the season, all three-point attempts, to help the Spartans jump out to a 9-3 advantage in the first three minutes of the game, and a three-pointer by Rashid increased the team's lead to 12-5 by the 16:18 mark. The Lions battled back to take a 17-16 lead with 11:17 to play in the first half, but junior Anand Dharmarajan answered with a three 25 seconds later to give CWRU the lead back and the Spartans would never trail again in the game. The Spartans increased their lead to double digits on a fast break layup by Trunley off a steal from sophomore guard Charlie Fox to go ahead 32-21 with 5:47 left in the half. CWRU led by as many as 21 points in the opening frame, going ahead 53-23 on sophomore guard Drey Fox's third three of the period with 1:03 to play and closed out the first half with a 19-point lead, 53-34.

A three-pointer by Trunley with 10:02 left in the game gave CWRU a 34-point lead, 84-50, with 10:02 to play in the game and the Spartans never saw their lead drop below 23 the rest of the way, en route to the 27-point win.

Tip-off for Saturday's championship game between the Spartans and the Golden Eagles is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans will aim to win the Sudeck Tournament Championship for the third consecutive season when it faces SUNY Brockport on Saturday.

• CWRU shot 48.7% overall in the game, including 40.0% from three-point range.

• The Spartans outrebounded the Lions 47-34. CWRU also held a 38-28 edge in points in the paint and a 23-2 advantage in second-chance points.

• Thirteen different players scored at least two points in the game for the Spartans on Friday night.

• Saturday's game was just the second meeting all-time between the Spartans and the Lions. CWRU had won the previous matchup 78-72 to open the 2005-06 campaign.