The Case Western Reserve University defense forced 23 turnovers, blocked nine shots, and held Kenyon College to just 43 points in a 76-43 win over the Owls to open the 2026-27 campaign at the Bill Sudeck Tournament inside Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland on Friday night.

With the win, the Spartans will advance to the tournament championship game against Oswego State, which bested Trine 73-70 in earlier action on Friday.

Stats & Standouts

• The Spartans never trailed in the win and were ahead by as many as 36 points in the game.

• CWRU finished the contest shooting 43.1% overall, including 37.0% from behind the three-point line.

• Sophomore Alex Vincent led the team with 11 points and eight rebounds on a five-for-nine shooting effort.

• Sophomore Will Taylor finished the contest with 10 points, eight rebounds, and a pair of steals.

• The Spartans finished the game with a 24-4 edge in points off turnovers and a 44-36 advantage in rebounding.

First Half

• The Spartans opened the game on a 10-0 run and maintained a lead until a 7-0 run by the Owls tied the contest at 13-13 with 6:49 to play.

• Vincent connected on the first three-pointer of his career with 6:16 left in the half, and CWRU would lead for the rest of the game.

• CWRU closed out the half on an 18-0 run to take a 34-15 lead into halftime.

• Vincent scored nine of his 11 points over the first 20 minutes of the contest. 

Second Half

• Kenyon scored the first two baskets of the second half to pull within 15 points, but that would be as close as the Owls would get for the rest of the game.

• CWRU took a 20-point lead, 44-24, on a three-pointer by Taylor with 14:35 left, and expanded its lead past 30 points, 70-39, on an and-one by first-year Aaron Hammann with 2:13 to play.

Spartan Notes

• The 43 points were the fewest allowed by the team since a 65-37 win over the University of Rochester on January 25, 2015.

• CWRU improved to 23-18 all-time against Kenyon, and has won six-straight matchups against the Owls since the 2008-09 season. This was the first meeting between the two teams since 2013-14.

• CWRU will be aiming to win the  Sudeck Tournament for the fourth consecutive time.

• Senior Drey Fox and junior Matthew Ellis were the only two current Spartans to appear in the tournament when it was last held two years ago.

• Twenty-four different Spartans played in the game on Friday, with 15 players scoring at least one point.

Up Next

The Spartans will resume play at the Sudeck Tournament on Saturday in the championship game against Oswego State. The contest is slated for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.