Eric Chalifour | Student Life

Senior center Alex Toth scores in the opening round of the Lopata Classic on Friday night against Whittier College. The Bears won 84-72, and knocked off No.1 ranked Augustana 71-68 in the championship game on Saturday.

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.”

Ben Gottesdiener | Student Life

Senior forward Dylan Richter receives a pass during Tuesday’s game against MacMurray College. Richter scored 18 points during the 91-64 victory.

“You never know what to expect when you open the season,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “We’ve been working hard, but we haven’t had any type of opportunity to compete against someone from outside. We don’t know where we are in the development stage, and I thought overall our guys did a great job.”

The Bears trailed 10-5 in the first five minutes, missing their first four shots from behind the arc. With 12:50 left, a three-pointer from Clint Lee gave the Highlanders their largest lead of the game, 15-9.

However, senior co-captain Dylan Richter stepped up halfway through the first period with a fast-break lay-up, giving Wash. U. an 18-17 lead as part of an 11-0 run. Freshman Brayden Teuscher finished the run with a lay-up to extend Wash. U.’s lead 23-17. Back-to-back three-pointers from Richter and Teuscher pushed the Bears’ lead to 29-21.

“Brayden had a great introduction into college basketball with a great statistical game,” Edwards said.

Wash. U. took a 42-32 lead into halftime, ending the first half with 18 points from Richter. Teuscher added nine points and four steals.

“I was pleased with our play. I thought we competed really well,” Edwards said.

After only four minutes in the second half, the Bears’ lead grew. A jumping steal by junior Ben Hoener led to a fast-break lay-up for sophomore Tim Cooney, pushing the score to 57-40. Richter forced another turnover, leading to another lay-up by sophomore Chris Klimek.

Cooney capped a 10-0 run with a lay-up to push the lead to 63-40 at 14:22. Wash. U. shot a scorching 55.3 percent from the field in the second half.

“We did really well executing our plays and playing together,” Richter said. “Through practice we have had the opportunity to play as a unit and build up team chemistry. We played relaxed, not in the sense that we’re not trying hard, but in the sense that we were poised and not getting flustered.”

Teuscher had 17 points, five assists and five steals in his collegiate debut. Klimek also added 12 second-half points on 5-of-7 shooting in his first game after missing last season with an injury. Richter led all scorers with 24 points.

“Dylan had a great offensive scoring game for us,” Edwards said. “We were excited because this is the first time he’s opened the season with us. It was neat to have him open the season so strong.”

“I think a lot of people stepped up for us, and it’s a testament to all the hard work people are putting in during practice,” Richter said.

The Bears outscored MacMurray 22-2 in fast break points and had a 21-6 advantage in second-chance points.

“It was a perfect first game to start out with to build the confidence on the team, especially because we have some new guys stepping up,” Richter said. “It is important for them to get comfortable playing and it showed we have a lot of weapons on the team. It puts us in a good position going forward.”

Wash. U. begins a stretch of four straight road games with two tough games this weekend in Spokane, Wash. The Bears face Whitman College on Friday at 8 p.m. PST, followed by a matchup on Sunday at 3 p.m. PST against No. 12 Whitworth College.

Paul Goedeke | Student Life

Junior Dylan Richter takes the ball up the court in a Jan. 30 match against Case Western. Richter scored in double figures in both games for the Bears over the weekend, road losses to Emory University and the University of Rochester.

Two road losses, a 92-67 defeat at the hands of Emory University and an 83-78 loss to the University of Rochester dropped the team to 11-11 (5-6 UAA) and likely out of playoff contention.

The Bears suffered their second loss of the weekend last Sunday at No. 22 Rochester. Senior co-captains Caleb Knepper and Spencer Gay led the Red and Green with six points each early in the first half, taking a 14-4 advantage at the 14:21 mark.

Minutes later, Knepper’s 3-pointer extended the lead to 21-6.

“The beginning of the game, we pushed the ball a lot more, and they had trouble keeping up with our intensity,” Knepper said.

The Bears started the game shooting nine of 14 from the field while limiting the Yellowjackets to just two of eight. However, Rochester sank five 3-pointers over the final 12 minutes of the half to cut the Bears’ halftime lead to just 38-35.

Gay led all scorers with 16 points in the first half, while Knepper added 12 points from four three-pointers.

“It [was a] great basketball game; we came out really fast and took a 15-point lead and hung on for the first half,” head coach Mark Edwards said.

A little more than three minutes into the second half, Rochester took its first lead of the game off a 3-pointer. Sophomore Ben Hoener answered with a triple of his own to tie the game at 45 and spark a 10-2 Wash. U. run over the next four minutes.

Rochester responded with a 14-5 run to take a 61-60 lead.

“In the second half, [Rochester] came out really strong and broke our back and then nip and tuck all the way down to the end,” Edwards said.

Junior captain Dylan Richter and freshman Tim Cooney’s 3-pointers helped even the game, but Rochester went on a 7-0 run with 2:30 to play.

“They fought back on their own court and got back into it and took the lead,” Knepper said. “We couldn’t get back the momentum we had in the first half.”

Gay scored a team-high 21 points, and Richter added 20 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

“Spencer had a really nice game for us, hit some big shots,” Knepper said.

Emory jumped out to an 18-10 lead in the Bears’ lost last Friday. Wash. U. sank two baskets to bring the score to 18-14, but the Eagles drained four three-pointers during a 16-2 run over the next four minutes to take control of the game.

“The game really didn’t go well for us,” Knepper said. “We came out really hard, but we didn’t match their intensity. They made a couple of tough shots; they were hitting threes, and we were hitting twos.”

With five minutes left in the first half, the Bears finished an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer from sophomore Max Needle to cut the deficit to 38-26. However, Emory responded, extending the lead back to 18 points going into the second half, a lead that would seal their victory.

“We came out to play, but Emory was just clicking on all cylinders and hitting some big shots, and we couldn’t recover,” Edwards said. “They played like at team that’s contending for the championship.”

Gay led all Wash. U. scorers with 21 points and was one of four Bears to score in double figures in the game. Knepper had 12 points while Richter and junior Alex Toth chipped in 11 points apiece.

The Bears return home this weekend to face New York University on Friday at 8 p.m. and Brandeis University on Sunday at noon.

Paul Goedeke | Student Life

Senior Spencer Gay gets past a Case Western Reserve University defender for a layup. Gay scored 22 points and blocked four shots in the men’s 80-65 victory on Sunday.

“We have a pretty physical team, and both teams tried to be physical back at us. They found out that we can handle it, and that made a difference,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “Our team is getting its pieces together; we just have to keep winning.”

Four Bears scored in double figures against Case Western Reserve on Sunday to power the team to an 80-65 victory. Senior Spencer Gay led the charge with 22 points and four blocks.

“We were struggling to work together and find our confidence, [but] it’s really coming along the last couple of games,” sophomore Robert Burnett said. “We’ve re-focused after a rough streak, and now we’re going after it. Our offense is coming along; it’s getting a lot smoother; we’re starting to find open men.”

The Spartans took an early 6-4 lead after sophomore forward Austin Fowler’s two three-pointers. Fowler, the leading scorer for Case Western, recorded 18 points but was limited for much of the game.

“We had a defensive game plan, and I think that our kids followed it very well,” Edwards said. “[Fowler] got quick shots when we weren’t ready for it, but after that, we tried to be ready for it.”

Gay’s three-point play with 16:28 left in the half gave the Bears a 7-6 lead, which they did not surrender.

After entering halftime with a 42-29 advantage, Wash. U. continued to push its lead. Two free throws from junior Alex Toth gave the Bears a 68-42 advantage with 5:56 remaining in regulation, their biggest lead of the game.

“I thought that [defense] was the key to the game,” Edwards said. “[Case] is a good offensive team, and I thought our kids competed very hard and had them taking bad shots…[and] turning the ball over.”

On Friday night against Carnegie Mellon, Burnett made his first career start in place of an injured Toth. Burnett recorded a double-double, picking up 12 points and 13 rebounds in the 70-62 Wash. U. victory.

“It was a good night. Coach gave me a chance to start, and I took advantage of it because I knew that it was my time,” Burnett said. “I was glad that I was able to come out and put up those numbers.”

Gay’s layup with 16:41 left in the first half gave the Red and Green a 7-2 lead. Gay led the offense with 16 points, while junior Dylan Richter scored 14.

The Tartans powered back, taking a 13-12 lead after two free throws five minutes later.

Senior Caleb Knepper hit back-to-back three-pointers off the bench to reclaim the lead for the Bears, who led at the break, 30-24. They opened the second half with a 9-0 run to put some distance between them and the Tartans.

“[Coming out of halftime], we were determined to knock them out flat,” Gay said. “The positive energy was there; we got big rebounds, and we got big stops.”

The Tartans slowly chipped away at the 15-point advantage, getting within two points of the Red and Green at the 4:54 mark.

With 54 seconds left, Richter found Burnett uncontested under the basket, setting up for a victory-sealing layup and a five-point advantage.

“Big Rob stepped up, and he filled a void,” Gay said. “He was a machine.”

With these two wins, Wash. U. moves into third place in the University Athletic Association standings (10-8, 4-3 UAA). Next, the Bears will hit the road for four crucial games, starting on Friday against CMU and continuing with Case Western Reserve on Sunday.

“We’ve got one goal at the end of the season, and that’s to keep playing. We know that we’re up against the ropes, and we’ve got to keep fighting,” Burnett said. “Every day, we come to practice, we fight hard and then we get ready for battle on Fridays and Sundays.”

Tip-off against Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh is at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Eric Chalifour | Student Life

Senior co-captain Spencer Gay, seen here in a game against Illinois Wesleyan University on Dec. 18, scored a career-high 23 points against Brandeis University on Sunday. Gay is the Bear’s leading scorer this season and averages 15.9 points per game.

The team defeated New York University 80-76 on Friday before trouncing No. 21 Brandeis University 70-36. The Bears now stand at 8-8 (2-3 University Athletic Association) on the season.

The win over NYU also ended a six-game road losing streak for the Bears.

Sunday’s faceoff with Brandeis featured Wash. U.’s best defensive performance of the season by far, as they held the Judges to a dismal 24.1 percent shooting percentage and no points in the last 8:42 of the game.

The Bears shot 52.7 percent from the field, marking their second-best field goal percentage of the season. Senior co-captain Spencer Gay led the offensive charge with a career-high 23 points.

“I think a lot of it had to do with the energy the kids brought to the game,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “We executed offense very well, and our defense played well, so [Brandeis] couldn’t get their baskets, and we did.”

The players attributed the defensive showing to increased focus and a need to prove that the team was better than its sub-.500 record indicated.

“The difference between [Sunday’s] game and the rest of the season was we just flat out had more energy, and we wanted to win that game a lot more than Brandeis wanted to,” said senior Caleb Knepper, a co-captain. “We had so much intensity, and we shut down their offense because we were the aggressors on defense.”

When asked if the team had a particularly good defensive strategy prepared against Brandeis, Knepper explained that sound execution was the key to the sound defensive performace.

“There really wasn’t any [specific defensive scheme],” Knepper said. “We change our defense for every team we play, so [on Sunday] it was more our energy.”

After taking an 11 point lead over the Judges into halftime, numerous Wash. U. players said that the Judges appeared to lose focus and stopped putting their full effort forward in the second half. Brandeis’ missed 13 consecutive shots to end the game.

“I wouldn’t say they quit, but we sure took the competitive spirit out of them,” Edwards said.

The Bears snapped their losing streak on Friday in a close victory over NYU. Neither team led by more than six points at any moment during the game.

The Bears had a few standout performers, including Gay, who led the team with 22 points, and sophomore Ben Hoener, who posted a career-best 18 points. The team also went nine of 16 from three-point range.

“When our players can hit outside [shots], especially when [opponents] are guarding us in a zone, it really is extremely effective in opening up the inside,” junior co-captain Alex Toth said.

Over the course of six minutes in the middle of the second half, Knepper hit four three-pointers, accounting for all the Bears’ points during that stretch.

“I know that my role is to add leadership coming off the bench and show the guys what we need to do in order to win,” Knepper said. “When they give me the ball in a position to score, I know that I am supposed to do that. It’s a pretty easy job to have.”

Knepper and Toth described these two games as a turning point in the season, as the players demonstrated the upside of a team that has been consistently strong on defense all year but has not lived up to the program’s extremely successful reputation.

“This weekend, more so than any other wins we had, we really felt like we needed to come out and not just win because we’re used to winning or because we felt like we needed to, but come out [and] be who we are going to be the rest of the season,” Knepper said. “I definitely think it was a turning point for us, and we’ll hopefully be able to keep that ball rolling for the next game coming up at home this weekend.”

The Bears will look to continue their winning streak this weekend at the Wash. U. Field House, with games on Friday at 8 p.m. against Carnegie Mellon University and at noon on Sunday against Case Western Reserve University.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Freshman Alan Aboona fires off a last second three pointer to tie the game against Illinois Wesleyan University on Dec 18. The Bears capped the upset of the Titans in OT.

Freshman guards Alan Aboona and Tim Cooney have answered that call and displayed their skill sets in the past few weeks, significantly impacting the team dynamic.

“You have to maintain your focus all the time and you have to keep your intensity level up, and I think they bring that to the team,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “I think they are smart basketball players, so they are able to step into the team scheme and really make a contribution.”

Aboona gained some notoriety on Dec. 18 against No. 12 Illinois Wesleyan University. With one second remaining in regulation, he hit a fadeaway three pointer to tie the game and force overtime. The Bears eventually won the game 83-75.

“Coach [Edwards] drew up a play to just get down the floor and get a shot up as fast as we can. I looked around, saw nobody open, took a fadeaway shot and it went in,” Aboona said. “That was really awesome.”

That moment felt like a turning point for Aboona, as he proved to the team that he has the confidence to be an effective scoring threat in clutch situations.

“One of the nice things about it all was that [Aboona] was willing to step up and take that shot and wasn’t afraid of the shot,” Edwards said. “To me, that’s a big step. That tells me a lot about the competitiveness that he has.”

Cooney, who has started the last nine games, attributed his increased role to the infectious energy and knowledge of the older, more experienced players on the team.

“They may not have been the starters last year, but they have been around for a while,” Cooney said. “You just have to take what they say and actually listen to them, and they will tell you what to do. They’ve been a big help.”

Cooney has recorded two double-doubles in the past month. He scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 67-52 win over Benedictine University, and he led the team with 19 points and 10 rebounds in an 86-80 loss to the University of Rochester.

Despite Aboona and Cooney’s personal successes, the Bears are stuck in a four-game losing streak and are winless in games against University Athletic Association (UAA) opponents. However, the Bears have not lost a game by more than six points since Nov. 22.

“I think our record doesn’t show it, but as a team, we are doing pretty well,” Cooney said.

An important element of their growth has been complementing individual talent with belief in a team mentality that is needed to win games.

“It’s a fine balance between individual skills and team offensive potency,” Edwards said. “And they are doing a good job with that.”

The Bears will continue to work on finding that balance as they try to snap their losing streak tonight at 8 p.m. (ET) at New York University.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Lingxu Zeng of Tsinghua University contests a reverse layup from senior Spencer Gay during an exhibition game on Dec. 3.

Tsinghua University, a school from Beijing, China, played exhibition games against the Washington University men’s basketball team and Franklin & Marshall College on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4.

While Tsinghua fell to the Bears, 80-70 on Friday and the Diplomats, 93-78 on Saturday, its presence provided a unique cultural experience in which players and coaches could share different cultures and ways of playing basketball.

On Nov. 30, Tsinghua and the Bears shared a joint practice. During the practice, head coaches Bo Li of Tsinghua and Mark Edwards of Wash. U. each contributed elements from their own normal practice regimens, and the teams worked through the drills together.

“It was a really neat experience, and we found that it was a great way to break down communication barriers,” Edwards said.

Throughout the drills, the players noticed specific differences between the two teams’ styles of play. Tsinghua ran drills that emphasized conditioning and individual ability while Wash. U. highlighted team play.

“A lot of their offense is predicated on one-on-one skills and beating the man in front of you, whereas ours is more system-oriented,” junior co-captain Dylan Richter said.

In its two games, Tsinghua had some trouble adjusting to the standard American basketball rules. In China, basketball is played according to International Basketball Association (IBA) rules, which are subtly different from American standards.

Li explained that the biggest difference is that referees are much stricter about calling fouls in the U.S. than they are in China.

“When I am training my team, I want them to be tough on defense. I want them to be strong on impact,” Li said. “But every time we did that, the referees called a foul. But it’s okay. We have to shoot for the American rules.”

Richter thought that the most significant change for Tsinghua was the American style of defense in the paint.

“Their offense is based on them driving and kicking it out to an open shooter,” Richter said. “After they beat their one man, they’re not used to having more [defenders] there to help.”

Despite having a hard time adjusting to the American style of play, Li was still quick to praise the Bears and their strong effort in their victory over Tsinghua on Friday.

“We had a very good experience with them,” Li said. “They are good shooters. They play a very fundamental game.”

Overall, players and coaches agreed that this experiment with cultural immersion proved successful as far as giving the players a new perspective on aspects of life that go beyond just basketball.

“I think the players took away an appreciation for another team with another philosophy from another country with another ideology,” Edwards said. “To be able to come on the court and compete on even terms and still shake hands and walk away, gaining a respect for each other, I think that’s the number one basis for what sports can do.”

Li said that Tsinghua had such a positive experience that he would like to plan an event like this again in the future.

“We really enjoyed the experience here,” Li said. “All the players we have met, all the coaches, are very kind to us, so I would like to welcome them to my country, welcome them to my university.”

The Bears (3-3) will take the court tonight at 8 p.m. at home against Fontbonne University.

Johann Qua Hiansen | Student Life

Then-sophomore Dylan Richter brings the ball up the court in a Feb. 19 game against Case Western Reserve University. Richter broke his arm before this season began, but his quick recovery had him back in the lineup on Nov. 22 at Augustana College.

However, the junior co-captain of the Washington University men’s basketball team persevered through an unexpectedly short rehabilitation period and rejoined the Bears’ lineup on Nov. 22 against Augustana College.

Despite the initial diagnosis, Richter followed up with other doctors, who gave him a more optimistic timetable for his return. In his first doctor’s visit, Richter was told that he would be out for three to four months, but he was continuously surprised by his doctor’s insistence that he was recovering more quickly than expected.

“Each time I went in for a checkup, [my arm] was doing better and better,” Richter said. “I was able to come back and play in a little under three months, so it ended up working out well.”

The broken humerus marked the second serious injury in Richter’s college career. Near the end of his freshman season, a foot injury kept him on crutches for about three months.

Richter attributes his quick rehab to a device called a bone stimulator, which he had from the previous injury.

“You just basically plug [the bone stimulator] onto the area where you broke a bone, and it’s supposed to stimulate growth by attracting more blood cells to the area,” Richter said. “My mom likes to say that’s what made the difference, and I believe that probably had an effect on why [the recovery] went so fast.”

Despite reassuming his role as a leader and a playmaker for the Bears last week, Richter realized that he still had some work to do to get back to his peak performance on the court. Nevertheless, Richter couldn’t wait to rejoin his teammates.

“Whenever you’re out for a while, you kind of take for granted what you were able to do before,” Richter said. “I obviously lost some conditioning, and I haven’t played basketball in a while, so I’ve got a little ways to go with that, but being able to get back out there was awesome. I was ecstatic.”

Richter’s first and second games of the season were also the Bears’ second and third consecutive losses, and the team now stands at 2-3 on the season. Despite the slide, Richter is optimistic about the direction that the Bears are taking to establish their identity.

“Last year, it was pretty solidified who was playing, who was getting what shots, what people’s role on the team was,” Richter said. “This year, people are trying to see what their role is, and no one really knows what that’s going to be.”

Richter, one of four players on this year’s team who received significant playing time last year (along with seniors Spencer Gay and Caleb Knepper and junior Alex Toth), gave a vote of confidence to head coach Mark Edwards and his offensive system and believes that good execution under the system can turn the Bears’ losing streak around.

“We’ve just got to believe in each other, be held accountable for what we’re doing out on the court, and buy into Coach’s system because it’s proven. It works,” Richter said. “We’ve won two championships with it, and we’re planning on winning another one real soon.”

The Bears will host the 27th Annual Lopata Classic at the Field House this weekend and will play their home opener at 8 p.m. against Tsinghua University of China.

An inexperienced starting lineup and a second round exit in front of the home crowd at last year’s NCAA Division III tournament did not curb the aura of confidence radiating from the locker room about the upcoming season.

“This is a new season, a new era, and we’re excited to jump into the action,” head coach Mark Edwards said.

In the University Athletic Association Coaches’ Poll, the Bears are the favorites to win the conference. They are also ranked No. 10 nationally by DIII News and No. 20 on d3hoops.com.

The Bears are more concerned with factors that they can control, such as maximizing the potential of the team, than they are with their national ranking.

“Every year is kind of a new thing,” Gay said. “The year after we won championships back to back, we came with the same mentality. It’s the same mentality no matter what.”

At practices, the players have noticed that, while the structure of the offense is the same as it has always been, the execution is vastly different, with new personnel filling in at different positions to replace last year’s playmakers.

“Our offense hasn’t changed, but what we’re looking for on offense has changed,” senior Brett Sapp said. “People aren’t going to come to games and be like, ‘Oh man, they’re exactly the same as they were last year.’ It’s going to be a whole new team.”

According to Edwards, the team’s biggest challenge will be establishing its identity, as new playmakers emerge and the team figures out how it will consistently generate points, given that only Gay is returning to the starting lineup.

“We’re going to have to be a good defensive team as our offense catches up with it [the defense],” Edwards said. “[Figuring out] what each player’s role is going to be is going to be critical for us, too, because it’s all being reinvented, so it’s a whole new team and everybody’s role is totally different.”

Edwards also expressed frustration about the current injury situation, which has prevented the team from practicing with some of its most important players in the weeks leading up to opening night. The Bears will begin the season with junior Dylan Richter sidelined until at least mid-December with a broken arm and with senior Caleb Knepper nursing an irritated bursa under his shoulder blade. According to Edwards, Knepper should return this week.

“[Richter and Knepper] were key elements in our program last year, so not having them in practice every day has been a challenge,” Edwards explained. “We have to keep the team fluid, keep it growing and then [insert] them as they become available and make ourselves better.”

Freshman Chris Kilmek, whom Edwards described as one of the team’s top recruits, is also out with a bulging disc.

Though the team acknowledges the high expectations that the perennially successful basketball program has set in recent years, everyone knows that they must recreate their identity to maintain that success.

“We’ve got to go out and just play basketball, and hopefully we’ll just keep getting better as the season goes along,” Edwards said. “But we’ve got a lot of work to do in order to get the team to the level that a lot of people expect us to be at.”

The Bears kicked off the season on Monday night, defeating MacMurray College 79-57 in Jacksonville, Ill. Gay led the team with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while junior Alex Toth also recorded 13 points and 10 boards.

The Bears will continue their season-opening road trip with games on Friday at 5 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Saturday at 7 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Cedric Huchuan Xia | Student Life

2010 Washington University graduate Zach Kelly passes the ball in a game against the University of Rochester on Feb. 5. Kelly led the Bears as a captain last year, made three Final Four appearances in four seasons, and was honorable-mention all-University Athletic Association selection in 2009.

After winning two NCAA Division III National Championships in his four-year tenure with the Washington University men’s basketball team, 2010 graduate Zach Kelly has officially taken the next step in his basketball career: moving to Leeds, England.

Kelly, a captain for the Bears last season, has signed a contract with the Bradford Dragons in the English Basketball League (EBL) and will start the new season this month. Kelly concurrently will pursue a master’s degree in international business from the Bradford College of Management.

For Kelly, who left for the United Kingdom last Wednesday, this chance took him by surprise after graduation; he never expected to extend his career to the semi-professional level after his time at Wash. U.

“This whole opportunity really came about serendipitously more than anything else,” Kelly wrote in an e-mail. “At the end of last school year, I never really had in my mind the idea of still playing competitive basketball.”

Over the summer, Kelly heard that a friend, who had played basketball at Columbia University, was going to play overseas while pursuing a master’s degree. After exploring the idea further, Kelly was put in contact with the Bradford Dragons, who coincidentally were in the market for a power forward. Soon enough, Kelly was offered a spot on the team and a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree.

“I never got to do study abroad at Wash. U. because of basketball, and whether it was volunteering, doing service work or just working abroad, I knew I wanted to do that somehow,” Kelly wrote. “This served my main goal of going abroad with the bonuses of playing basketball and getting a degree.”

Despite Kelly’s immensely successful career with the Bears, in which he compiled a 103-16 record, he emphasized that he plans to use this opportunity to explore other interests beyond basketball, including meeting people in a new part of the world. After being in England for only a week, Kelly has already encountered teammates from Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Jamaica, Antigua and the U.K.

“The motivation behind me pursuing this opportunity goes beyond basketball,” Kelly said. “Basketball is the avenue for which I intend to explore a place I’ve never been before and meet new people and hopefully learn something about myself in the process. Basketball is just a bonus.”

As Kelly’s mentor for the past four years, men’s basketball head coach Mark Edwards had only pride and encouraging words for his former center.

“[Kelly] has really enjoyed playing basketball, and to be able to move on to another phase of your life and hold on to the basketball is really super,” Edwards said. “I am really happy for him.”

The last time Edwards had seen a player score a professional contract after playing for the Bears was in 2003, when Chris Jeffries left to play in Brazil post-graduation. He has been there for seven years and is still playing basketball.

As for his future aspirations, Kelly has made the conscious decision to enjoy the experience that has been presented to him and worry about other life choices as they arrive. Playing basketball was not the strongest driving force behind the decision to move to England, and Kelly said that international business was not his strongest academic passion. He graduated from Wash. U. with degrees in psychology and political science.

“I really haven’t decided what my long-term aspirations are yet,” Kelly wrote. “I’m really just going to focus on making the most out of this experience and enjoying it to the fullest, and I’ll see where I am after that.”

For now, Kelly is a model for Division III athletes who have greater athletic aspirations beyond college sports. Through basketball, he has grasped an opportunity to live the international experience he was not able to achieve in college.