The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team headed into halftime tied against the second-ranked team in Division III, but the University of Chicago Maroons were able to pull away in the second half for a 74-61 win over the Spartans at Horsburgh Gymnasium on Friday night.

The loss was the second-straight setback for the Spartans, who dropped to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the University Athletic Association. The Maroons increased their winning streak to 10 games and improved to 12-1 overall with a 2-0 league mark.

Stats and Standouts

• Graduate student guard Ethan Edwards led all CWRU players with 13 points, shooting five-of-13 overall and two-of-four from long range with two rebounds, a steal, and a block.

• First-year forward Alex Vincent came off the bench to score 12 points, shooting five-of-eight with four rebounds, two assists, and a block.

• Junior guard Julian Scott added a career-high 11 points on a five-of-10 shooting effort.

First Half

• Chicago opened the game on an 8-2 run to take a six-point lead by the 17:32 mark.

• CWRU answered with a layup by Scott and a three from Edwards to pull back within a point by the first media timeout. Vincent hit a layup off the timeout to give the Spartans their first lead of the day, 9-8.

• A three by first-year guard Shyam Patel with 12:11 left helped CWRU take a one-point lead, 16-15, into the second media timeout.

• Edwards connected on his second three of the half just before the eight-minute timeout to put CWRU ahead 22-19.

• A layup from sophomore guard Matthew Ellis with 6:15 left in the half put the Spartans ahead 26-21, the team's largest lead of the frame.

• The Spartans remained ahead until the Maroons tied the game at 33-33 with 2:36 to play in the frame. Chicago took a three-point lead, 38-35, with 39 seconds left, but Scott converted an and-one with five seconds left in the period to tie the game at 38 points apiece heading into the break.

• Led by nine points from Ellis and six from Vincent, the Spartans' bench outscored the Maroons' 21-2 over the first 20 minutes of the game. CWRU shot 53.6% (15-28) and 50.0% (5-10) from long range in the first half.

Second Half

• The second half started similarly to the first with Chicago scoring seven of the first nine points of the period to go ahead 45-40 with 17:52 to go in the game.

• The Maroons led by seven, 49-42, with 15:23 on the clock and took their first double-digit lead with 9:36 left, going ahead 57-47.

• Chicago led by as many as 14 points in the second half, going in front 65-51 with 6:17 to play.

• A three by senior guard Anand Dharmarajan with 2:39 to play trimmed the lead back to single digits, 67-58, and after a turnover, Dharmarajan was fouled and converted both ends of the one-and-one to make it a 67-60 contest with 2:15 to go.

• Seven points would be as close as the Spartans would get down the stretch, as the Maroons pulled away late for the 13-point victory.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU recognized late, great head coach Bill Sudeck throughout Friday night's game. Sudeck, who passed away in 2000, won 329 games in a combined 37 years as head basketball coach at CIT and CWRU. He also led the cross country and track & field team for 46 years. In 1993-94, Sudeck was named North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in all three sports – basketball, cross country and track & field.

• Edwards finished with his fifth-straight double-figure scoring effort. He has averaged 19.0 points per game during the stretch and leads the team with 13.0 points per game this season.

• The Spartans fell to 26-46 all-time against Chicago.

• Friday night's loss was the team's first home setback in four games at Horsburgh Gymnasium this year and ended a stretch of four-straight home wins dating back to last season.

Up Next

The Spartans complete their brief two-game home stand on Sunday, January 18, when the team plays host to 13th-ranked Washington University (Mo.) at 1:00 p.m. inside Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.