The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team could not recover from a slow start on Saturday evening, falling to Trinity University (Texas) 75-59 in the finale of the Great Lakes Invitational at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium in Washington, Pennsylvania.

The loss was the third straight for the Spartans, who fell to 3-3 overall. The Tigers, who received votes in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25, improved to 4-1.

Stats and Standouts

• First-year forward Alex Vincent led the Spartans with the first double-double of his career, finishing with 12 points (on a six-of-10 shooting effort from the floor) and a career-high 13 rebounds. He added three assists and a pair of blocks.

• Senior forward Andrew Fox added six points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal, and two blocks for the Spartans. 

First Half

• Sophomore guard Matthew Ellis scored the first two baskets of the game for the Spartans to put the team ahead 4-3 with 18:25 on the clock.

• The game was tied at six apiece four minutes in, but Trinity scored 16 of the next 18 points to go ahead 24-8 by the 10:56 mark.

• The Spartans struggled to find their shot in the first half, shooting 20.0% (7-35) overall and 7.1% (1-14) from three-point range, and trailed by as many as 27 points before finding themselves down 42-17 heading into the break.

Second Half

• The Tigers led by as many as 29 points in the second half, going ahead 51-22 with 16:32 to play.

• First-year guard Gideon Greenberg connected on a pair of threes late in the second half, the second of which pulled the Spartans back within 18 points, 65-47, with 5:49 left in the stanza.

• Back-to-back turnovers by Trinity led to baskets from Fox and Vincent that trimmed the lead to 14 points, and a three by senior guard Anand Dharmarajan with four minutes cut the Tigers' lead to just 13, 67-54.

• However, Trinity cemented its lead with back-to-back threes from Carter Ruck on the team's next two possessions, and held on for a 16-point victory.

• The Spartans shot better in the second half, making 43.2% (16-37) shots from the floor, including 27.8% (5-18) from three, but could not overcome the early deficit.

Spartan Notes

• Vincent leads all CWRU players this season with 12.3 points per game and is second on the team with 7.3 rebounds per contest.

• The game was just the second meeting all-time between the two teams. CWRU won the previous matchup 72-71 at home during the 2016-17 season.

• Saturday's game ended a stretch of five-straight games away from home for CWRU since its home-opener on November 8.

• The Spartans were outrebounded for just the second time in six games this season.

Up Next

The Spartans will return home to Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland to host Saint Vincent College on Sunday, November 30, at 2:00 p.m.