The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team got its 2025-26 season started with a 20-point win on Saturday evening at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland, leading Houghton University wire-to-wire en route to a 99-79 victory.

The Spartans improved to 1-0 with the win while the Highlanders dropped to 0-2.

Stats and Standouts

• The Spartans made 15 three-point shots in the game and shot 38.5% (15-39) from long range. CWRU shot 49.4% overall (39-79) on Saturday. The Spartans dominated in the paint, outscoring the Highlanders 48-32 from close, and held a 52-29 edge in rebounds.

• Senior guard Anand Dharmarajan and sophomore guard Matthew Ellis each scored a team-high 14 points in the contest. Dharmarajan scored all of his points in the first half, connecting on five-of-14 attempts overall and four-of-12 from behind the three-point line. Ellis added a six-of-10 shooting performance, including two-of-three from long range, and picked up a pair of steals.

• First-year guard Shyam Patel added 13 points off the bench in his college debut while collecting seven rebounds and three assists.

• Also finishing in double figures in the game were first-year guard Anestis Hadjistamoulou and junior guard Julian Scott, who each made their CWRU debut on Saturday. Hadjistamoulou scored 11 points, while Scott contributed 10. Each also recorded five assists, leading the team.

• First-year forward Alex Vincent had a team-high four blocks and scored eight points.

• Senior forward Andrew Fox led all Spartan players with nine rebounds in the game.

First Half

• The Spartans scored eight of the first 10 points in the game, taking an 8-2 lead on a three by Ellis with 17:27 to play in the half, and led 13-7 by the first media timeout.

• CWRU continued to add to its lead, and a three by Patel just before the second media timeout put the Spartans in front by 20 points, 33-13.

• The 20-point lead proved to be the largest of the half for the Spartans, who maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the period and finished the frame with a 57-40 lead.

• The Spartans shot 53.5% (23-43) from the floor and 45.0% (9-20) from three-point range in the first half.

Second Half

• CWRU opened the second half on a 10-2 run to cement its lead, going ahead 67-42 on a layup by first-year forward Will Taylor with 15:40 to play in the game, two of his seven points in his college debut.

• A layup by Hajistamoulou with 9:38 left extended the team's lead to 34, 84-50.

• The Spartans led by as many as 35 points in the second half, taking a 91-56 edge after a jumper by Drew Bartolai with 5:40 to go, before closing out the 20-point win.

• The CWRU bench accounted for 30 of the team's 42 second-half points, including eight in the frame from Hadjistamoulou.

Spartan Notes

• Saturday's game was the second-ever meeting between the Spartans and the Highlanders, with Houghton winning last year's matchup in Houghton, New York, 80-75. Only two CWRU players who appeared in last year's game - Andrew Fox and junior guard Drey Fox - also played in Saturday's game.

• The Spartans are 26-28 all-time in season-opening games, including wins in each of their last four season openers and in six of their last seven.

• Nineteen players appeared in the game for the Spartans, with 12 scoring at least one point. Twelve players made their CWRU debut on Saturday, including 10 different players making their collegiate debut in the game. Hadjistamoulou, Taylor, Patel, Bartolai, first-year guard Simon Moschin, and first-year guard Gideon Greenberg each scored their first career points on Saturday. 

Up Next

The Spartans will begin a stretch of five straight games away from home, starting with a matchup at Penn State Behrend on Tuesday, November 11, at 7:00 p.m. in Erie, Pennsylvania.