Graduate student guard Ethan Edwards scored a career-high 38 points and set a program record with nine made three-pointers to pace the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team to a 97-78 win over La Roche University in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.
The Spartans improved to 8-3 with the win and will head into University Athletic Association play this weekend on a five-game winning streak. The loss was the fourth straight setback for the Redhawks who dropped to 3-10 on the season.
Stats and Standouts
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Edwards made 10-of-16 shots overall, including nine-of-14 from behind the three-point line, and nine-of-11 free throw attempts. The nine three-pointers broke the previous school record of eight made threes set by Mitch Prendergast on March 11, 2022 against Mary Hardin-Baylor and matched by Sam Trunley against Emory on January 19, 2024. Edwards added five rebounds, three assists, and three steals against La Roche.
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Junior forward Logan Brown scored in double figures for the first time in a Spartan uniform, finishing the game with 14 points on an efficient six-of-seven shooting effort, including two-for-two from behind the three-point line. He led the team with eight rebounds and four assists.
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First-year guard Shyam Patel came off the bench to score 11 points with six rebounds and two blocks.
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CWRU made a season-high 17 three-pointers in the game, shooting 43.6% as a team from long range. It was the most three-pointers made by the Spartans in a contest since January 24, 2025, against Brandeis.
First Half
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Edwards led the Spartans with 13 first-half points, making three of the team's nine three-pointers during the first half of action.
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The Spartans opened the game on a 14-2 run to take a 12-point lead just over three minutes in.
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Brown connected on his second three of the half with 10:18 remaining in the frame to boost CWRU's lead to 27-11, the team's largest lead of the first stanza.
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La Roche responded with six-straight points to pull back within 10, but a three from Edwards pushed the Spartans' lead back to 15, 34-19, with 7:04 left in the half.
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The Redhawks trimmed the Spartans' lead back to single digits by the end of the first period, as CWRU took a 48-40 lead into the break.
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CWRU finished the first half shooting 45.7% (16-35) overall and 42.9% (9-21) from three-point range.
Second Half
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La Roche cut the Spartans' lead to six, 50-44, but a three from Edwards increased CWRU's advantage to nine, 53-44, with 17:12 on the clock.
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Edwards continued to drive the Spartans' offense, putting the team up 14, 62-48, on a pair of free throws with 14:38 left, and increasing the lead to 65-50 with a three with 13:56 on the clock.
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After La Roche pulled back within nine points, sophomore guard Matthew Ellis, Brown, and first-year forward Alex Vincent each hit layups on three-straight possessions to give CWRU a 75-60 edge with 9:22 left.
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The Redhawks again cut the lead to single digits, but CWRU went on an 8-0 run with two threes from Edwards and a layup from Brown to match their largest lead of the game to that point, taking an 84-68 lead with 5:16 to play.
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A three-pointer by first-year forward Nitish Sankaranthi with 1:08 remaining put the Spartans ahead by 19 to end the contest with their largest lead of the contest.
Spartan Notes
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Edwards surpassed his previous career high of 29 points, scored during his time at Brandeis against Chicago on January 15, 2023.
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It was the third-straight double-figure scoring effort for Edwards, who has averaged 22.7 points per game during the stretch.
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The nine three pointers made by Edwards were tied for the fifth-most in a game by a Division III player this season.
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Brown's two three-pointers set a new career high. He has made four three-pointers over the last three games after hitting just two over his career prior to the current stretch.
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CWRU improved to 5-0 all-time against La Roche with Wednesday's win.
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CWRU ended its non-conference schedule with a 5-1 record in road games.
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The Spartans finished with a +10 rebound margin and improved to 8-1 when outrebounding its opponent this season. It was the eighth time this season that CWRU has outrebounded the opposing team by 10 or more boards.
Up Next
With the team's non-conference schedule now complete, the Spartans will turn their attention to the start of UAA play on Saturday, January 10, as the team will travel to Pittsburgh for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off against Carnegie Mellon.