From University of Chicago Athletics
With two seniors leading the way, the University of Chicago men's basketball team dominated early and held on late in its second win over Rochester University in seven days with Sunday's 90-83 league victory.
Senior guard Jake Fenlon – a native of Rochester, N.Y. – heated up in the second half to finish with a team-high 25 points and classmate Collin Barthel had one of his best shooting performances of the season with 22 points, hitting 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
The Maroons (9-11, 5-4 University Athletic Association) swept the Yellowjackets (13-7, 4-5) in regular-season play for the first time since 2015 after winning in New York on Jan. 28, 72-65.
Both the free-throw and 3-point line played big parts in Sunday's victory, as UChicago drained 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from downtown and almost didn't miss from the charity stripe, connecting on 31-of-38 (81.6 percent) attempts.
Fenlon, the Maroons' career-leader in 3s, added six more to his total (234) in shooting 6-of-10 from 3 and 7-of-13 from the field. While Fenlon and Barthel provided the majority of the scoring, UChicago's bench proved key throughout the game, outscoring Rochester's reserves by a 37-21 margin.
The game opened with a back-and-forth first half, as both teams stood tied at 16-all at the 7-minute mark. That's when the Maroons made their move en route to a 10-point halftime lead. A Justin Jackson bucket and the foul, Barthel layup and Fenlon triple pushed UChicago's lead to six, followed by four made free throws – two each from Barthel and Jackson.
Barthel added another bucket inside, Fenlon drained one more 3 and Dominic Laravie capped the first period with a layup to give the first half to UChicago, 35-25.
In the second half, four straight 3s – three from Fenlon and one for Barthel – pushed the Maroons' lead to as many as 15 with 15:40 to go, and the Maroons resumed control for most of the half, up 19 (77-58) with 5:04 left.
Rochester, however, didn't give up.
The Yellow Jackets would execute a 25-9 run in the final five minutes to get within three, 86-83, with 18 seconds left. But Maroon nerves and free throws prevailed, as Jordan Baum sunk all four of his attempts in the final seconds to seal the win at Ratner Athletics Center.
Max Jacobs and Sam Sustacek led the Maroon reserves with eight points apiece, with Sustacek adding five rebounds and draining all six of his free throws. Jackson and Laravie added seven points each and Cole Schmitz chipped in six in a balanced effort for the hosts.
While the Maroons made 31 free throws, the Yellowjackets shot just 11, making 12. UChicago edged Rochester on the boards, 39-31, and UChicago shot slightly better from the field at 48 percent (24-of-50) compared to 43.1 percent (31-of-72) for the visitors.
Five players netted double-figures for the Yellowjackets, led by Ryan Clamage with 17.