From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The eighth-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team notched its first-ever home postseason victory, defeating Arcadia University 82-76 in front of a raucous crowd at Horsburgh Gymnasium on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship.
The Spartans improved to 22-3 overall this season and to 3-1 all-time in NCAA tournament play. CWRU will now turn its attention to its second-round opponent tomorrow, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, which best Wabash College 90-83 in the early game on Friday.
Senior forward Cole Frilling notched his ninth double-double of the season and led all Spartans in the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds, shooting five-of-nine overall and two-of-three from behind the three-point arc. Graduate student guard Danny Frauenheim scored all 18 of his points in the second half and dished out seven assists to increase hit total to 174 for the season passing former Spartan Griffin Kornaker for the new program record. Junior guard Luke Thorburn added 16 points and six rebounds, and graduate student guard Mitch Prendergast finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
The Spartans overcame a tough shooting first half, during which the team connected on just 33.3% of its shots overall and 10.0% of its three-point attempts, rebounding in the second frame, shooting a blistering 60.7% overall and 37.5% from behind the three-point line.
CWRU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game, but could not pull away early, and found itself on the wrong side of a five-point game, 19-14, halfway through the first half. The game remained close with Arcadia taking a four-point lead, 32-28, with 1:07 to play in the frame, but a free throw with 49 seconds to go and a layup at the buzzer by sophomore guard Sam Trunley allowed the Spartans to pull back within a point, 32-31, by the half.
The Spartans finally began to pull away in the second half. Trunley connected on a pair of free throws to break a 44-44 tie with 14:18 to go, and CWRU rallied to lead by as many as 15 points after a three-pointer by Frilling with 5:25 to go extended the team's advantage to 70-55. The Spartans maintained a double-figured lead until the final 90 seconds of the game, when a run by the Knights narrowed the Spartans' lead to as few as four points, 80-76, with just 12 seconds to play. However, Frauenheim converted a pair of free throws to put CWRU up six, and a late shot by Arcadia missed to cement the final score.
Arcadia's Nas Johnson led all players in the game with 24 points, while Jalen Watkins added a monster effort with 21 points and 21 rebounds. The Spartans held Arcadia to 35.8% shooting overall and 29.2% from long range and outscored the Knights 38-24 in the paint.