The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team fell in its University Athletic Association opener on Saturday afternoon at the Highmark Center in Pittsburgh, losing 87-69 to Carnegie Mellon University.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Spartans, who fell to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Tartans improved to 9-3 this season with a 1-0 record in UAA contests.

Stats and Standouts

• Sophomore guard Matthew Ellis led the Spartans in scoring, dropping in 21 points off the bench for CWRU. He made seven of his 14 shots, including three three-pointers
• Graduate student guard Ethan Edwards added 14 points, and senior forward Andrew Fox contributed 11
• Junior forward Logan Brown pulled down a team-high nine rebounds with Fox and junior guard Julian Scott each collecting five misses
• As a team, CWRU shot just 32.9 percent (25-for-76) from the field and 21.9 percent from beyond the arc (7-for-32)

First Half

• The hosts opened the contest with a 9-0 as the Spartans did not score until first-year forward Alex Vincnent made a layup in the paint 4:05 into the contest
• Carnegie Mellon increased its lead to 19-4 a few minutes later
• CWRU chipped away at the deficit with a free throw from Vincent making the score 28-22 with five minutes to play in the first half
• That would be the closest the team got to tying the score as the Tartans ended the stanza on a 20-10 run

Second Half

• CWRU surged after the halftime break, cutting the deficit to nine with a 9-0 run
• Edwards scored seven of the nine points, draining four free throws and a three-pointer in the first two-and- a-half minutes of the period
• CMU responded with 12 consecutive points and led by as many as 22 in the half
• Scott made a jumper with 4:34 left in the contest to cut the deficit to 12, 68-56, and a three-pointer by senior guard Anand Dharmarajan with 3:01 remaining made the score 73-62
• Carnegie Mellon made its free throws down the stretch, putting the game away

Spartan Notes

• CWRU fell to 48-41 all-time against Carnegie Mellon with the loss snapping a modest three-game winning streak in the series
• Edwards reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game
• The Spartans got 34 points from their bench, compared to just 13 for CMU
• Carnegie Mellon led for the entire game

Up Next

CWRU will return to Cleveland for its first home UAA weekend of the season, as the Spartans will host fourth-ranked Chicago at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, January 16, and eighth-ranked WashU at 1 p.m. on Sunday, January 18, at Horsburgh Gymnasium. Friday night's game will be the team's Bill Sudeck Game as the program will recognize the former legendary head coach throughout the evening.