From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Senior forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team to an 82-73 season-opening victory versus cross-town rival Baldwin Wallace University on Tuesday at Horsburgh Gymnasium.
The Spartans (1-0) have now won six consecutive home openers since 2009. The Yellow Jackets (1-1) suffer their first loss of 2014-15.
McLoughlin, who scored 17 in the first half, shot 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. The two-year captain now has 975 points for his career. A total of 10 Spartans scored in the game, and the team racked up 25 points from its bench.
Senior guard Julien Person (Paris, France/Second Baptist, Texas) scored 14 points and was 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Freshmen twins Eric Black (Avon Lake, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) and David Black (Avon Lake, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) each contributed eight in their collegiate debuts.
BW was led by Jaron Crowe with 17 points, and Matt Dennis with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spartans sprinted out of the gate with a 13-5 run culminating in a short jumper by senior center Connor Edel (Akron, Ohio/Revere) at the 15:08 mark. The home lead dipped to five twice over the next two minutes then jumped to 11 on seven separate occasions before sophomore forward Mac Hartman (New Wilmington, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) converted a three-point play to make the score 42-29 with 1:20 on the clock. Then with time expiring in the opening period, junior guard Matt Clark (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University) made a fast-break layup to put his team on top by 15, 46-31.
In the second, CWRU's advantage reached a high of 16, 57-41, when senior forward Brian Klements (Willoughby Hills, Ohio/Willoughby South) completed a three-point play with 16:03 remaining. The Yellow Jackets then staged a comeback with a 7-0 run culminating in a Justin Roth three-pointer at 14:10, but the Spartans picked up a key triple on the next possession from junior point guard Jimmy Holman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) to momentarily defuse the visitor rally.
BW hung around from there and cut its deficit to five four times in the final 2:30, but each time, the Spartans went down the floor and posted points.
Outside of the scoring column, Edel posted a career-high 10 rebounds. Holman dished out a game-best six assists. Klements and Person contributed four and three blocks, respectively.