Case Western Reserve University graduate student forward Andy Barba scored a game-high 22 points and senior guard Sam Trunley added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough for the Spartans who suffered a 71-60 setback against the University of Chicago on Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

The loss was the second straight for the Spartans who fell to 5-9 overall and 1-2 in University Athletic Association play. The Maroons, who received votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25, improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the UAA.

Barba made nine-of-18 shots from the floor and matched his career high with four three-pointers on nine attempts. Trunley scored his 14 points on a five-of-19 shooting effort with a pair of assists and registered his third double-double of the season and the fourth of his career. Senior forward Umar Rashid scored 16 points with seven rebounds, one assist, one steal, and a game-high three blocks.

The Spartans' starters accounted for all 60 of the team's points on Sunday with graduate student guard Nicholas Schiavello adding six points and junior forward Aaron Rucker adding two.

Despite never leading by more than two points on Sunday, the Spartans were able to take a 32-30 lead into halftime, overcoming a nine-point deficit with just over five minutes left in the first frame. Six unanswered points from the Spartans, capped off by a layup from Schiavello with 2:39 left in the period, pulled CWRU back within three, 28-25. After the Maroons scored again to push their lead back to five, Trunley connected on a shot with 1:52 left to make it a one-possession game and Barba tied the game at 30-30 with a three with 1:34 to go. Rashid then hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Spartans their first lead since the 17:18 mark in the first.

It remained a one-possession game through the first 11 minutes and 35 seconds of the second half. CWRU took a 43-41 lead with 12:47 left in the period, but Chicago answered with five straight points to take the lead and never trailed again in the game. The Spartans were down just a point, 52-51, with 8:35 left to play, but the Maroons launched on a 17-3 run over the next six minutes to pull away from CWRU. Chicago led by as many as 15 points down the stretch en route to the 11-point victory.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 38.1% overall (24-63) and 20.0 % (5-25) from behind the three-point line.

The Spartans will return home to host a pair of UAA games inside Horsburgh Gymnasium next weekend, welcoming Brandeis University to Cleveland on Friday, January 24 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff, and fourth-ranked New York University on Sunday, January 26 at 2:30 p.m. ET. 

Spartan Notes

• This was the second straight game and the second time overall this season that Barba has been the team's leading scorer in a game. Barba is averaging 13.4 points per game this year, and Sunday marked his second game of 20 or more points and his ninth game of at least 10 points this year.

• Trunley has now scored 929 points over his career, the 23rd-most by a player in program history. He is six points away from matching former Spartan David Thompson for the 22nd-most in team history. Trunley, who entered the game 10th among Division III players in points per game, is averaging 22.9 points per game.

• Rashid's three blocks on Sunday give him 125 for his career, surpassing former Spartan Julien Person (2011-15) for the second-most blocks over a career in program history.

• CWRU fell to 25-45 all-time against Chicago with Sunday's loss. The Spartans remain victorious in four of the last seven games against the Maroons.