This contest was no different.

The No. 1 Bears could not overcome a seven-point deficit with 3:11 left in the game, losing 75-70 to Illinois Wesleyan University and ending the team’s run at a third straight national championship.

“We’ve won a lot of close games in our four years at Wash. U.,” senior co-captain Cameron Smith said, “and we have found a lot of different ways to make things happen throughout games, especially at the end of games: getting stops here, making big buckets there. This was just a game where we couldn’t make big plays happen at the end of the game. That was the only difference.”

Senior co-captain Aaron Thompson recorded 20 points in the game, but was limited in the game with foul trouble. Junior Spencer Gay had 14 points and 13 rebounds, but the Titans’ Sean Johnson scored 24 points.

A 7-0 run gave the Titans a 17-10 lead with 12:30 left in the first half. Turnovers and missed shots plagued the Bears, 2 of 9 from beyond the three-point arc in the period.

Thompson and graduate student Sean Wallis, a co-captain, were forced to sit through most of the first half because of foul trouble. The two combined for just four points and 18 minutes in the period.

With the Bears’ two leading scorers out of the game, the Titans maintained their lead.

“When you have two All-Americans on your team, and they’re both on the bench, it pretty much limits you, particularly when the team is used to counting on their scoring all year long and they’re not out there to give it to you,” Edwards said. “To me, that was the biggest problem we had.”

A layup with 1:18 left in the half gave the Titans an eight-point lead, its largest of the half, but the Red and Green managed to cut it just to three by halftime.

Thompson hit a three-pointer, his first of the night, only six seconds into the second period to tie the game. Gay gave the Bears the lead on the following possession, but it lasted only 23 seconds and would be the Bears’ only lead for the rest of the game.

“We were definitely capable of playing better than we did, but, at the same time, I’m not going to fault our kids,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “We got beaten by a team that was better than us that night. Whether they’re better than us overall, I don’t know, but they were that night.”

Sophomore Jordan Zimmer’s layup gave Illinois Wesleyan a 48-39 advantage with 14:18 left in the game. Aaron Thompson got the Red and Green within just one point at the 1:46 mark, but the Bears could not complete the comeback.

“It just seemed to me that we couldn’t get over the hump, couldn’t get the big stop that we needed when we needed it, and they just made some plays,” Smith said.

With the Titans up by just three with 15 seconds left, Doug Sexauer corralled an offensive rebound off a missed free throw. After he was fouled, his two free throws put the game out of reach.

“[The win] was definitely in our grasp,” Gay said. “The last play, there was a loose rebound, and we definitely had a chance, but it slipped out of our fingers.”

The loss snapped the Bears’ 14-game NCAA tournament win streak, and ended the careers of the winningest class in school history.

“We would be demeaning to the careers of our seniors and Sean [Wallis] if we focused upon just this one game,” Edwards said. “Obviously, in the locker room everybody was down, but that’s the emotion of sports. Once that wears off, and you look back at your accomplishments and what these guys have done together, you’ve got to feel good about that.”

“I’m sure in five years, when I look back at my career at Wash. U., I’m not going to remember this game, but right now it’s hard to think of much else, honestly, because you live for the game that you’re playing, not for your past successes,” Smith said. “Each game is the most important game you’ve ever played, so it hurts, but we’ll be all right.”

“It’s definitely a little different than the feeling that we came out of here with last year, but any team that makes it into the NCAA tournament is a good team,” senior co-captain Aaron Thompson.

The Bears will host the first and second rounds of the tournament, opening against Westminster (MO) College. Westminster (20-7,13-3 SLIAC) earned the automatic bid from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The two teams met in a scrimmage earlier this season.

“The closest game we had last year was the first game, so really, [placement] is immaterial.” head coach Mark Edwards said. “Every team that is in the tournament is deserving of being in the tournament, and every team that is in the tournament is coming to win it.”

If Wash. U. gets past the Blue Jays, it could potentially face Illinois Wesleyan University in the second round. The Bears defeated the Titans 76-71 in a heated contest on Nov. 22nd. The other potential opponent is No. 25 Central College (Iowa).

“We’ve had so much development since we’ve played those guys…so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” senior co-captain Cameron Smith said.

Also in the pod (the division of 16 teams) are No. 4 St. Thomas University, No. 8 University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, and No. 15 University of Texas-Dallas.

“It’s nice to play at home, but after that, it doesn’t really matter who we play, because we’re going to have to beat them anyway,” Smith said.

Tip-off against Westminster will take place on Friday, March 5th, at 8 p.m..

“Westminster is a good team,” Thompson said. “We’ve really just got to be ready to go and on top of our game and get things clicking early.”

The full men’s bracket can be downloaded online.

Women’s Basketball Bracket Released

The No. 6 women’s basketball (23-2, 12-1 UAA) faces Maryville (TN) in the NCAA first round.  Maryville has a 22-5 record heading into the tournament.

The first and second rounds will be hosted by No. 16 Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. Thomas More plays against Fontbonne University in the first round.

The full women’s bracket can be downloaded online.

Caleb Knepper goes for a shot on Dec. 5, 2009, against Pomona. (Paul Goedeke | Student Life)

This last opportunity came with a narrow 64-60 victory at the University of Chicago on Saturday.

“From now on, it’s one and done,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “So you’ve got to win them or you’re out.”

Senior co-captain Aaron Thompson, who put up a game-high 23 points, facilitated the win in the final game of the regular season. After Saturday’s performance, Thompson surpassed Tyler Nading (’05-’09, 1,552 points) for third place on Washington University’s all-time scoring list with 1,558 points. Thompson shot 7 for 11 from the field, and 4 for 6 from three-point range in the game.

“The thing that has impressed me the most about Aaron this year is the fact that he has had a target on his back,” Edwards said. “They have different strategies for double teaming, for zoning, for trying to be physical with him, for not letting him get the ball. But he has kept his poise, he’s taking good shots, and he hasn’t changed the type of shots that he looks for.”

Despite shooting only 25 percent from the field in the first half, the Bears lead 20-19 at halftime.

“I told them, ‘The good news is that we are holding Chicago to 28 percent shooting, but the bad news is that we are shooting 25 percent,’” Edwards said. “I was pretty confident that our shooting percentage would go up in the second half. We were taking good shots, but we weren’t finishing some of the open shots we were getting.”

The team responded to Edwards’ talk, and over a 3:13 period in the middle of the second half, the Bears went on a 13-0 run. During this stretch, four points by Thompson, two three-pointers by junior Caleb Knepper and one by senior Ross Kelley helped solidify a 12-point lead that the Bears never let go. Knepper finished the game with 10 points.

“[The scoring run] happened when a bunch of guys that came in off the bench were in,” said graduate student Sean Wallis, a co-captain. “They did a great job picking up the energy. They have been playing so well in practice that it was great for that to carry over into a game. I think that’s was what turned around the game.”

Wallis, who finished the game with seven points, three assists and three rebounds, believes that the Bears have the knowledge and experience as a team to continue their postseason success this year.

“We are a confident group, but at the same time, we understand what it takes,” Wallis said. “It’s not a cockiness by any means, but we understand that we’ve got to go out and play hard, and hopefully the ball bounces the right way for us and we can make another run at it.”

Edwards echoed Wallis’ sentiment.

“How could you not be confident playing with guys that you’ve played with all these games for the last four years?” Edwards asked.

Now that the Bears have concluded the regular season, they will await their postseason schedule, which will be released at 9 a.m. on Monday. The team will find out where they head in the Danforth University Center Fun Room, and Bon Appétit will provide a free continental breakfast to fans.

Spencer Gay drives past a defender in Sunday’s victory. The Bears clinched the UAA title and an NCAA tournament bid. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

It was hardly an easy feat. On Senior Night, in front of a packed Field House on Friday, the Washington University men’s basketball team secured sole possession of the University Athletic Association title and an automatic NCAA tournament bid with a 65-62 win over Case Western Reserve University.

“Being able to win the UAA outright, on Senior Night, it was kind of a nice feather in our caps as seniors,” senior co-captain Aaron Thompson said. “For the team, it’s just a nice relief knowing that we’re going to be in the tournament for sure, and we don’t have to leave anything to chance.”

Up by two with just 5.9 seconds left in the game, the Bears defense forced a turnover on a Case Western inbounding play, sealing a tense game with an equally tense ending.

“We won [the game], and I thought we played well,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “Sometimes people get caught up in expectations, and they forget about the fact that the object of the game is to win it. Secondly, that nobody is going to play perfect. The third thing is that you’ve got to expect the other team to play well.”

Junior Spencer Gay had a team high of 18 points and three blocks to edge the Bears past the Spartans. Thompson, one of four senior players being celebrated on Friday night, scored 15 points.

The Bears had a hot start, taking a six-point lead with 14:54 left in the first half, relying on a strong inside presence and well-timed passes.

“[My teammates] set good screens for me, and I was wide open,” Gay said. “Sean [Wallis] got me the ball, I got in good position, and all I really had to do was lay it up.”

But with an increased Spartan defense, which forced errors and turnovers, the lead quickly disappeared.

“We’re so confident in each other…that sometimes, if they bump us or take away a cut…[mistakes] happen,” Edwards said. “We just have to know how to deal with it.”

Junior Alex Hildebrandt’s three-point play resulted in a 25-22 advantage with 5:59 to go in the first half as Case took a four-point lead into the break.

At the 15:18 mark in the second half, sophomore Tom Summers’ layup pushed the visitor’s lead to six.

Junior Caleb Knepper’s three-pointer reclaimed the lead for the Bears, part of a 12-4 run, but the game remained a close battle until the final buzzer. Thompson’s three-pointer with 90 seconds left pushed the lead to six, and proved to be vital in the win.

“As a senior, and having played in so many close games over the years, you kind of learn what needed to happen,” Thompson said. “In those situations…it’s your turn to step up to the table and take the team and put them on your shoulders and say, ‘Hey, this is what’s going to happen. Let’s go do it.’”

The Bears carried the momentum from Friday night into Sunday’s game against Carnegie Mellon University, the final home game of the season. Gay led the team, again, with a career high of 22 points. Senior Zach Kelly finished with 13 points in the 95-58 victory.

“Coming into the game, we didn’t feel as much pressure because we secured the UAA championship,” Gay said. “We were relaxed today.”

The conference championship is the Bears’ third in the past four years, and the 10th in program history. Washington University (22-2, 12-1) concludes the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the University of Chicago (13-11, 7-6).

“I am proud, but I’m also happy for [the team]. The seniors are going to go out in style, and not just with the winning, but putting on a nice legacy for the young kids coming in,” Edwards said.

Graduate student Sean Wallis drives into the key in the championship game of the 26th annual Lopata Classic against Pomona-Pitzer College. Wash. U. won 76-50, with Wallis contributing 15 points and eight assists. (Paul Goedeke | Student Life)

The No. 1 Washington University men’s basketball team was deadly this weekend in the 26th annual Lopata Classic—deadly, of course, from beyond the arc.

In the 76-50 win in the championship game against Pomona-Pitzer College, the Bears connected on 13 of 26 three-pointers. Despite the final score, the game was hotly contested early on.

“You’ve got to take what they give you. Tonight they played the zone [defense], so we ended up getting jump shots,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “I think the key thing is that the players take good shots.”

The Bears connected on four straight three-pointers to open the game, taking a 12-5 lead with 15:44 left in the first half.

Pomona-Pitzer responded with a 16-6 run in the next five minutes, taking a three-point lead on senior David Liss’ jumper. Liss had 14 points in the first half and earned all-tournament honors.

“I don’t know if there was anything we could’ve done in the first half,” senior Cameron Smith said. “He’s a very quick player, and he hit some really tough shots.”

The Bears slowly pulled away from the Sagehens. Graduate student Sean Wallis’s four-point play with 2:47 left in the half pushed the lead to six. Wallis scored nine straight to give Wash. U. a 12-point advantage at the break.

The second half was all Bears.

Smith’s three-pointer with 13:41 left in the game stretched Wash. U.’s lead to 23. Smith was perfect from long range (4 for 4), and finished with 14 points.

“It just so happened that I was the guy who they kind of left open in the corner,” Smith said. “I got some really good looks, and when you get good looks, it’s nice to be able to knock them down.”

Liss, on the other hand, was limited to just two points in the second half. Pomona-Pitzer managed only 18 points and shot 29.3 percent from the field.

“It’s one thing to be able to hit shots 10 minutes into the game, and it’s another thing to hit one 30 minutes in the game,” Edwards said. “[Liss] was a very good player, but we were able to rotate people on him and have to make him work very hard, and by the end of the game, I think he was very tired.”

The lead, which was pushed to a game high of 29, sufficiently guaranteed a Bears win. Junior Caleb Knepper and sophomore Dylan Richter each added 11 points.

A similar lead in the first game of the tournament, against NAIA No. 5 McKendree University, almost did not.

A 47-22 Bears lead to start the second half of Friday night’s game was slowly dismantled by the Bearcats. Freshman John Steppe’s back-to-back triples cut the lead to just six with 14 minutes left in the game. Steppe finished the game with 19 points.

“That’s the way the game of basketball is,” Edwards said. “It’s played with two teams, and if they’re competitive teams, they’ll give each other good shots and there’ll be surges during the game.”

Senior Aaron Thompson’s consecutive three-point plays minutes later stopped the bleeding as part of a 10-0 run that increased the lead to 14. Thompson’s 21 points helped the Bears stave off the Bearcats in the final 10 minutes of the game.

“We just kind of stuck to what had been working, and getting good shots and finding the open man,” Wallis said. “That was the difference.”

Wash. U. came away with a 15-point victory, advancing to play the Sagehens in the tournament championship.

Wallis averaged 17.5 points and 6.8 assists per game, earning him the Robert L. Burnes tournament Most Valuable Player award. Smith and Thompson also earned spots on the all-tournament team.

“Obviously, it’s a nice honor, but I couldn’t be happier about my team going 2-0, more importantly,” Wallis said. “I’m looking forward to this week. We’ve got some huge games, so hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Washington University (5-0) returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9, against No. 6 Wheaton College before taking on No. 21 Augustana College on Saturday, Dec. 12. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.

Junior Caleb Knepper goes up for the lay-up with two defenders on him in the regular season opener against MacMurray College on Sunday Nov. 15. Wash. U. won 88-53 as Knepper pulled down a career-high eight rebounds in his first collegiate start. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

“It’s always good to get that first win under your belt,” said co-captain Sean Wallis, a graduate student. “We went out, we played hard, and we did a great job defensively, not letting them do what they wanted to do.”

Head coach Mark Edwards said, “We got out and competed. At times, we executed very well. We didn’t make a lot of first-game mistakes, which I was pleased with.”

Senior co-captain Aaron Thompson led the team with 24 points to complement Wallis’ nine assists.

“When you have two All-American guards that everyone is keying on, it’s pretty important that they are able to handle [the outside game],” Edwards said. “Aaron missed his first three three-pointers, and then he hit four in a row, so it didn’t seem to bother him too much.”

The team largely attributed their strong start to familiarity among the same group of players. Wallis, Thompson and fellow co-captains Cameron Smith and Zach Kelly are all returning starters who have played together for the past four years.

“With repetition, you start to know where people like to get the ball and where they are going to be when you make a certain cut,” Thompson said. “With that experience, it really helps.”

Junior Caleb Knepper, the only starter who did not start last season, stepped into his new role nicely, putting up eight points and grabbing a career-high eight rebounds.

“I think he did a good job,” Edwards said. “He took smart shots, good shots and got rebounds. That’s what we need from him.”

Despite a strong showing in the home opener, the squad was quick to critique their performance and talk about the areas they need to work on as the season progresses.

“We had a lot of good open shots that we missed, but that’s basketball,” Edwards said. “What you miss on one end, you have to make up for on the other end on defense, and that’s what we did.”

Nevertheless, the Bears took a lot of positives away from the win, and they expect to build on this performance for the coming weeks.

“Getting all 10 guys that we want in our rotation on the floor and playing with those rotations really helps,” Thompson said. “It is really going to give us confidence going forward, which is huge.”

The Bears take on Ohio Wesleyan University at the Titan Tip-Off Tournament next Saturday, Nov. 21, in Bloomington, Ill.

“Looking forward, there is definitely room for improvement, but it’s a good way to start,” Wallis said.

Wash. U. defeated Brandeis 80-75 on Friday night in Waltham, Mass. and then knocked off NYU 67-56 on Sunday afternoon in New York City.

Five Bears scored in double figures against Brandeis, which entered the game allowing a UAA-low 62.2 points per game. A week after being named UAA athlete of the week, junior guard Aaron Thompson led all scorers with 18 points and junior forward Cameron Smith tied a career-high with 15 points on 6-6 shooting from the field. Senior forward Tyler Nading and freshman forward Alex Toth also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively while senior guard Sean Wallis posted his fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists.

The 80 points were the most Brandeis has allowed all season.

“When we got our shots, we knocked ’em down,” Smith said. “When you play against a good team, you have to make open shots and we did.”

The teams traded buckets early in the first half before Wash. U. went on an 11-1 run to jump ahead 22-12. A layup by Toth with 3:41 left put the Bears up 35-26, but a three-pointer from Kevin Olson and a layup by Andrew Magee cut the Bears’ halftime lead to 37-33.

The Red and Green began the second half by hitting 10 of 16 shots, but the Judges hung in the game. Thompson put Wash. U. up 61-50 at the halfway mark of the period with a deep three-pointer and then a 15-footer, but Olson nailed two threes and Andre Roberson added another to trim the lead to 63-59 with 7:44 remaining.

Wash. U. led 71-63 with 4:29 left when a Brandeis dancer was injured during a time-out, delaying the game for 30 minutes. The Bears struggled after the bizarre incident, and Brandeis scored five straight points to cut the lead to 71-68.

“[The break] definitely changed the whole feel of the game, because the last four and a half minutes were just bizarre. It was almost like starting a new game because you never wait 30 minutes during games,” Smith said. “It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever been a part of in a basketball game.”

Wash. U. was able to regain its composure after the brief Brandeis run when Smith hit a three-pointer in the corner with 2:33 left to put the team up 74-68. Wallis and Thompson then went 6-6 from the free-throw line collectively down the stretch to seal the victory.

Against NYU on Sunday, Thompson led the way for the Bears by pouring in 29 points on 9-19 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three-point range. It was the sixth time Thompson has scored at least 20 points in a game this season and his third-highest total of the year.

The rest of the team struggled offensively, as the Bears shot just 39.6 percent from the field for the game and 1 for 5 from three-point range in the second half.

It was the Wash. U. defense that ensured another victory, holding NYU to 44.4 percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. The Bears also outscored NYU 20-12 in points off turnovers and 16-0 in second-chance points.

“They were really physical, and on a Sunday after two weekends of travel, it’s kind of tough to get up for that Sunday game. But we started getting some shots to go and then pretty much just controlled the boards and defensively really handled them,” Thompson said.

The Bears started slow, missing their first seven shots from the field and falling behind 9-0. Back-to-back three-pointers by Thompson ignited an astonishing 28-3 Wash. U. run. During the run, the Bears hit six three-pointers, including five from Thompson, and held NYU without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.

“A.T. [Thompson] was the catalyst today,” Smith said. “We were not putting the ball in the hole, and then A.T. hits five threes…and all of a sudden you look up at the board and its 28-12.”

Wash. U. entered halftime leading 34-25 and built the lead to 42-31 to start the second half before D.J. Glavan got the Violets back into the game by rattling off seven straight points. NYU got as close as 54-50, but did not score in the final 1:58 of the game as the Bears sealed the victory on a Wallis three-pointer and free throws by Wallis and Thompson.

Wash. U. will begin the second half of conference play by returning home to face these teams again. The Bears play NYU on Friday at 8 p.m. and then square off against Brandeis on Sunday at noon.

The Bears defeated North Park 86-64 in their season-opening game on Saturday and then took down Colorado College 82-64 in the tournament’s championship game to record their seventh and eighth straight victories dating back to last year.

Senior point guard and preseason First Team All-American Sean Wallis, playing in his first regular season game since suffering a season-ending injury in the third game last season, led the way for the Bears against North Park with 22 points on his 22nd birthday. Wallis shot 4-6 from three-point range and 6-6 from the foul line.

“It wasn’t like I went out trying to score 22 points on my 22nd birthday, but it was definitely pretty funny,” Wallis said. “After the game, my teammates were giving me a pretty hard time…but I wasn’t really worried about that. I was just trying to win in my first game back and for the team to get into the championship game in the tournament.”

Wash. U. scored the first 12 points of the game, including three-pointers by Wallis and junior guard John Wolf, to build a huge lead in the first five minutes of the game. North Park cut the lead to 24-20 with 5:53 left in the first half, but late three-pointers by Wallis and junior shooting guard Aaron Thompson put the Bears up 39-28 at halftime.

The Bears began the second half on a 10-0 run and shot 64.3 percent (18-28) from the field and 75 percent (9-12) from the foul line to put the game out of reach.

Against Colorado College on Sunday, Thompson led the way with a career-high 31 points on 11-17 shooting from the field, including 5-9 from three-point range.

“[Aaron] is playing with a lot of confidence right now, which he should,” Head Coach Mark Edwards said. “He had a great year last year, and he’s worked hard to get ready for this year. When he gets an open shot, you’re surprised if he misses, not if he makes.”

The Red and Green jumped out to an early lead again, going up 9-0 on three straight three-pointers by Thompson. After Colorado College trimmed the lead to 12-10, the Bears went on a 12-0 run, capped by a three-pointer by junior point guard Ross Kelley, to extend the lead to 24-10 with 10:07 remaining in the first half. Wash. U. entered the half leading 42-27.

Colorado College, which snapped a 24-game losing streak with an 86-85 overtime victory against the University of La Verne on Saturday night, cut the lead to 65-56 after a layup by Jarrell Sweet with 6:21 remaining in the second half, but was never able to get closer after that point.

For Wash. U., senior power forward and preseason Second Team All-American Tyler Nading added 10 points and nine rebounds while Kelley had nine points and Wallis had eight points and five assists. The Bears shot 51 percent (26-51) from the field for the game and 56.3 percent (9-16) from three-point range.

“I don’t think it was the best game we’ve played, but we did the things we needed to do to win,” Wallis said.

Wash. U. returns to action on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at No. 2 Augustana College (1-0). Last season Augustana, then ranked No. 5, knocked off the top-ranked Bears at home in the fourth game of the season, 66-60.

“It’s going to be a wild time for this early in the season,” Edwards said. “It’s a big game as far as excitement for basketball fans, the No. 1 versus No. 2, and I’m sure there’ll be a full house up there…We’re looking forward to it.”