Graduate student Ethan Edwards scored 29 points on Friday night to lead the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team to its first University Athletic Association victory of the season, a 87-83 win over the New York University Violets at the Paulson Center in New York City.

The win ended a five-game losing streak for the Spartans, who improved to 9-8 overall with a 1-5 UAA record. The Violets, who had won two straight games to climb into the national rankings, dropped to 12-5 overall with a 3-3 league record.

Stats and Standouts

• The Spartans shot a season-high 54.4% (31-57) overall and 53.8% (14-26) from three-point range, while holding NYU to 47.8% shooting overall (32-67) and 33.3% from three-point range (10-30).

• Edwards shot 11-of-17 from the floor and made all five of his three-point attempts in the game, adding two rebounds and a pair of assists.

• Senior guard Anand Dharmarajan added 17 points on a five-of-13 overall shooting effort, which included five-of-12 makes from long range.

• Making the first start of his career, first-year guard Shyam Patel added 13 points, making three-of-five shots overall, including three-of-four from behind the three-point line, with six rebounds.

• First-year forward Alex Vincent led the team with nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, while adding seven points.

• Senior forward Andrew Fox tallied eight points and six rebounds off the bench, while tallying a career-high two steals.

First Half

• The Spartans led by as many as 10 points in the first half behind a combined 33 points from Edwards and Dharmarajan.

• After NYU opened the game with a three-pointer, CWRU took advantage of three Violet turnovers to go on a 10-0 run with Dharmarajan and Edwards each scoring five points to give CWRU a seven-point lead by the 17:22 mark.

• Edwards and Dharmarajan scored the first 21 points of the game for the Spartans, helping the team take a 21-14 lead with 14:18 on the clock.

• CWRU took a 38-28 lead with a 10-2 run, capped off with a layup from junior forward Logan Brown with 8:23 to play in the period.

• The Spartans remained ahead until the 1:03 mark when an NYU three-pointer gave the Violets their first lead in almost 18 minutes, and NYU took a 51-47 lead into the break.

• CWRU had one of its best shooting periods of the season, making 62.1% (18-29) of its shots from the floor, including 64.3% (9-14) from three-point range. Edwards scored 19 points in the first half (shooting 8-10 overall and 3-3 from behind the three-point line) with Dharmarajan adding 14 points (going 4-8 from the floor, all from long range).

Second Half

• Early three-pointers by Brown and Edwards helped CWRU tie the game at 53-53 by the 18:06 mark, and a free throw from Patel put the Spartans in front 54-53 with 16:57 to play.

• NYU led 60-59 with 14:22 on the clock, but CWRU went on a 12-3 run, going ahead 71-63 with 10:55 left on a layup by Vincent.

• The Violets remained close and pulled within a point, 77-76, but Dharmarajan hit a three-pointer with 2:32 left to push the Spartans' lead back to four points, and after an NYU free throw, Vincent connected on a jumper with 1:35 to go to give CWRU an 82-77 advantage.

• NYU made it a three-point game, 82-79, with 45 seconds to play, but a free throw with 40 seconds left by Vincent made it a two-possession game again. The Violets then made a layup with 20 seconds left to cut the lead to 83-81, but first-year guard Anestis Hadjistamoulou converted two free throws to extend the CWRU lead to 85-81 with just 14 seconds left.

• The Violets missed a three-pointer with four seconds left, but the ball got stuck in the rim with the possession arrow favoring NYU and giving the team another chance. The Violets hit a layup with three seconds left to trim the CWRU lead to a pair, 85-83, but after another foul, Edwards was able to hit both ends of a one-and-one to secure the win for the Spartans.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU held the lead for 33 minutes and 32 seconds in Friday's game. There were seven lead changes and two ties in the game.

• The win was the Spartans' first of the season against a nationally-ranked opponent. It was the first time the Spartans had beaten a ranked opponent since a win against 24th-ranked Chicago at home on February 15, 2025, and the first time CWRU had beaten a ranked opponent on the road since a victory over 22nd-ranked Emory on January 19, 2024. NYU was the highest-ranked opponent the Spartans have beaten since a victory over 22nd-ranked Hope in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Championship.

• Patel scored in double figures for the ninth time this season with his effort on Friday.

• Vincent had his third consecutive game with at least three blocks, totaling 11 during the stretch.

• Edwards has scored in double figures in nine-consecutive games for the Spartans, averaging 21.7 points per game during the stretch. He leads the team with 16.7 points per game this season. Friday marked his fourth game of at least 20 points.

• With his five points on Friday, Brown moved within a point of 400 for his career.

• CWRU improved to 6-4 in road games this season.

• The Spartans ended a three-game losing streak to NYU and improved to 25-41 all-time against the Violets.

Up Next

The Spartans will conclude a stretch of four-consecutive road games on Sunday, February 1, when the team travels to Waltham, Massachusetts, for a 1:00 p.m. contest against Brandeis University.