A nail-biting road win over Carnegie Mellon University secured the Washington University men’s basketball team sole possession of first place in the University Athletic Association going into Friday night’s home game against Brandeis University.

After opening conference play with a 79-72 home win over the University of Chicago on Jan. 7 and an 87-71 road victory over Case Western University on Jan. 13, the Bears defeated Carnegie Mellon 66-64 on Jan. 15 to improve to 3-0 in the UAA and 11-3 overall.

“Our defense is really our best offense right now because we’re generating a lot of steals and layups off it,” sophomore guard Alan Aboona said. “Offensively I think we’re executing our screen offense really well. It’s pretty complex, so it’s hard to scout against us.”

Sophomore forward Chris Klimek, who missed six games with a broken finger before returning on Dec. 30 against Elmhurst College, led the Bears with an average of 15 points per game in the three league contests. He notched career highs of 17 points and nine rebounds against the Tartans.

Klimek missed his freshman season because of back surgery, and head coach Mark Edwards is glad to have him back on the court.

“He’s a smart offensive player, and he’s also very key on the boards,” Edwards said.

Senior guard Dylan Richter and sophomore guard Tim Cooney propelled the Bears to victory in their league opener versus Chicago. Richter had 20 points, and Cooney scored 19, making all seven of his shots. Cooney added six assists and four rebounds off the bench to earn UAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week honors.

“I struggled a lot earlier this year, not playing as well as I would have liked to,” Cooney said. “But it was huge coming into that first game of conference and being able to play the way that I knew I could.”

Down 55-54 midway through the second half, the Bears used a 12-3 run to secure the lead for good.

Cooney had a hot hand again versus Case Western, scoring eight points on 4-4 shooting. Junior guard Ben Hoener was another standout off the bench, pouring in 16 points on 7-7 shooting.

Wash. U. took a 48-39 lead into the half and converted its first five shots to widen the margin to 58-46 early in the second half. The Bears’ largest lead of the game was 82-58.

Klimek carried the Bears in the first half against Carnegie Mellon, scoring 13 of the team’s 30 points as it clung to a one-point lead. The Bears pushed the advantage to 65-54 with just under four minutes remaining, but nearly lost it after a 10-1 Carnegie Mellon run. The Tartans missed an opportunity to tie the game on their final possession, and the Bears came away with a closer-than-expected victory.

The Bears struggled from the three-point line and the free throw line, shooting 1-12 and 11-20, respectively.

“It was good that we were able to pick up for an off shooting night and still come out with a win,” Cooney said.

The Bears open a four-game homestand Friday against Brandeis before getting set to duel with No. 23 New York University, University of Rochester and No. 8 Emory University, in order.

“This conference is a very tough conference, so the rankings don’t mean anything when you play,” Edwards said. “We could’ve been beaten Sunday very easily by Carnegie Mellon, [which has the third worst record] in the conference.”

Edwards has shuffled his starting lineup on multiple occasions this season, but he has used the starting five of Richter, senior center Alex Toth, Klimek, Aboona and freshman guard Brayden Teuscher for all three conference games. However, he said that the current starting unit is not necessarily the permanent one.

Wash. U. has been bolstered by strong depth, with a rotation that usually goes at least 11 deep and includes extensive minutes for three or four bench players.

“We get in foul trouble a lot—our starters do,” Aboona said. “Like [against Carnegie Mellon], I was in foul trouble—I only played like three minutes in the first half, so [Hoener] came in, and he really played really well.”