From University of Rochester
Senior Sam Borst-Smith had a career night to lead the #3 University of Rochester men's basketball team to an 88-82 win over the University of Chicago on Friday night at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
Borst-Smith was ultra-efficient, scoring 38 points on 10-12 shooting, including going 7-8 from 3-point range and adding an 11-12 night at the free throw line. The scoring and 3-point outputs were career highs for the senior who now holds the UR single game 3-point percentage record (with at least six made) at 87.5%.
The senior, along with sophomore Ryan Clamage were key players in a run late in the game which helped the Yellowjackets (13-0, 2-0 UAA) erase a nine point 2nd half lead from Chicago (8-5, 0-2 UAA).
Borst-Smith knocked down three straight 3-point shots in a 14-7 run which pulled the Yellowjackets within one point with 6:48 to play. Soon after Chicago built the lead back up to six, but a Clamage triple, along with Mack Montague's to driving layups scored seven of the next nine points to get UR back to a one-point deficit.
After a Noah Karras jumper put the Maroons back up three, Clamage grabbed UR's only offensive rebound, coming on Borst-Smith's only 3-pointer miss and put it back in for a key layup. The next Yellowjacket possession, the sophomore Clamage then drained a three from the corner to put Rochester up by one with 1:55 left.
The five points from Clamage, paired with six straight Borst-Smith free throws down the stretch made up UR's 11-2 run to close out the game over the final three minutes. That stretch also saw junior Tucker Knox make a huge block in the lane on Blaine Crawford with UR clinging to a four-point lead with 20 seconds to play.
Rochester held the lead for much of the early going, behind some strong 3-point shooting. Borst-Smith, Montague and Zack Ayers each had a triple in the opening minutes to help UR build a lead as big as six in the first half.
Chicago got back into the game with some strong inside work, capitalizing on many of its 12 offensive rebounds which ultimately led to 15 second chance points. Crawford poured in six of his 18 points during a 15-5 run midway through the opening half to pull the Maroons ahead.
Waller Perez scored seven straight points to close the half and Chicago led at intermission by six, 45-39.
The second half opened with the Yellowjackets scoring 10 of the first 12 points, including four points from Knox, but the Maroons answered right back with their own 9-2 run, to pull back in front. Chicago's run consisted of two treys from Ryan Jacobsen and Noah Karras and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Collin Barthel.
Shortly after, Borst-Smith took the game over, scoring 17 points over the final 12 minutes while all of Clamage's eight points came in the final quarter of the game.
Joining Borst-Smith in double-figure scoring was Montague who had 14 points and five rebounds and Ayers who added 12 points. Knox finished with six and two blocks, including the big defensive stand in the closing seconds. Rochester ended up shooting 57% on the night, making 30-53 shots, and was the same from distance, sinking 13-23 attempts from behind the arc.
For Chicago, Crawford finished with 18 points and eight rebounds while Perez and Karras had 16 points each. The Maroons ended up outrebounding UR 37-27, including 12-1 on the offensive glass. Chicago ended up at 48% shooting on the night, making 31-64 attempts and was only 30% from long range (8-26).