Case Western Reserve University graduate student guard Ethan Edwards and sophomore guard Matthew Ellis combined for 56 points, including 46 in the second half alone, to turn a 24-point deficit into just five, but the Spartans could ultimately not overcome a slow start in a 100-93 loss to the 13th-ranked Washington University (Mo.) Bears at Horsburgh Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.

The loss was the third straight for the Spartans, who fell to 8-6 overall with a 0-3 record in University Athletic Association play. The Bears improved to 11-3 overall with a 1-2 league mark.

Stats and Standouts

• Edwards fell just three points shy of his career high, finishing the game with 35. He made a career-high 12 shots on 22 attempts, including five-of-10 from three-point range, while hitting six-of-seven tries from the free throw line and adding five rebounds, an assist, and a block.

• Ellis finished the game with 21 points off the bench, shooting 10-of-21 overall, including one-of-seven from long range. He added three rebounds, an assist, three steals, and a block.

• Junior forward Logan Brown contributed seven points and a season-high 14 rebounds with two assists and a career-high three steals.

• CWRU finished the game shooting 41.7% (35-84) overall and made nine-of-30 (30.0%) of its three-point attempts.

First Half

• The Bears opened the game on a 16-2 run and led by as many as 16 points, taking a 20-4 advantage with 14:16 remaining in the period.

• CWRU trimmed the lead to 11 points, 25-14, after a jumper by Edwards with 11:03 on the clock, and again when a jumper by first-year forward Alex Vincent cut the advantage to 27-16 with 8:21 remaining in the half.

• WashU maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the half and took a period-high 20-point lead, 45-25, on a last-second shot to end the period.

Second Half

• CWRU outscored WashU 68-55 in the second half of the game, led by Edwards' 31 points and Ellis' 15 over the final 20 minutes of the game.

• Ellis and Edwards each hit layups to start the second half and help CWRU cut the lead to 45-29 with 18:19 left in the game.

• The Bears eventually grew their lead to 24 points, 58-34, by the 14:26 mark, but CWRU responded with a 10-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer from Edwards with 13:41 on the clock to cut the deficit to 14 points.

• After the Bears went back ahead by 19 with 11:55 remaining, a 9-2 run by the Spartans, keyed by three-straight layups off turnovers by Ellis, helped CWRU pull back within 12 points, 70-58, with 8:54 to play.

• The Spartans continued to work their way back in the game with a pair of free throws from Edwards, making it a 10-point game with 7:41 left and a traditional three-point play from Brown cutting it back to single digits, 74-67, at the 6:36 mark. However, the Bears answered with back-to-back threes to go back ahead by 13, 80-67, with 5:42 on the clock.

• CWRU continued to threaten WashU's lead, getting back to seven points after a three from Ellis with 2:42 on the clock made it an 84-77 contest.

• The Bears' lead once again climbed to 11 points, 95-84, with under a minute left before CWRU made one final run. Edwards connected on a three-pointer, and after a WashU basket, was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws to make it a 97-90 contest with 31 seconds left.

• CWRU fouled on the next WashU possession. The Bears made one of the two free throws to take an eight-point lead, but Edwards connected on another three to cut it to a five-point game, 98-93, with 23 seconds remaining.

• The Spartans fouled again, and WashU missed both free throws, but collected an offensive rebound. The Bears made the most of their second chance, hitting a layup to take a 100-93 lead with 14 seconds left, and after a missed three by the Spartans, were able to run out the clock on the victory.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans outrebounded the Bears 43-41, marking just the second time this season that CWRU has lost a game while outrebounding its opponent.

• CWRU fell to 9-56 all-time against the Bears with the loss. It was the team's third straight loss to WashU.

• Edwards finished with his sixth-straight double-figure scoring effort. He has averaged 20.8 points per game during the stretch and leads the team with 15.2 points per game this season. It was his second 30-point effort of the season.

• Brown tallied his second game of 10 or more rebounds this season and surpassed his previous CWRU high of 11 rebounds, set against Hiram on December 10. He was just two shy of his career high of 16 rebounds, set while a member of Haverford against Washington College on January 31, 2024. Brown also set a career-high with three steals in the game.

• Ellis notched career-best marks with 10 shots made and three steals.

Up Next

CWRU will begin a four-game UAA road trip next week, traveling to Atlanta to face third-ranked Emory at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, January 23, and to Rochester, New York, for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff against Rochester on Sunday, January 25.