Jason HubertThe Washington University men’s basketball team escaped a late University of Rochester comeback bid and held on to defeat the Yellow Jackets 67-62 before a sizable crowd at the Washington University Field House Friday night.
On the backs of senior Scott Stone’s sharp outside shooting and tough inside play by sophomore Troy Ruths, the 13-5 Bears knocked off the defending University Athletic Association (UAA) champions and last year’s national runner-up.
Rochester hung tight with the Bears early, trailing just 31-28 with 2:30 remaining in the first half. The University then went on an 11-2 scoring burst over the final 2:05 and took a 42-30 lead into the locker room.
The run was capped by a Mike Grunst three-point play with just two seconds remaining on the clock. The seven-foot senior center put back his own miss and was fouled in the process, giving the Bears momentum heading into the second half.
The University opened the second half just where it had left off. The Bears went on a 9-2 run over the first 3:30 to take what seemed to be a commanding 51-34 lead.
Rochester battled back, however, taking advantage of a stagnant University offense and cutting the lead to 57-48 with seven minutes to go. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, with the lead fluctuating only minimally.
Then, over a stretch of just over two minutes, Rochester guard Mike Goia lit up the University defense, scoring the Yellow Jackets’ next eleven points and cutting the Bears’ lead down to four at 63-59.
Rochester narrowed the lead down to three, with 50 seconds to go, but tremendous free-throw shooting by the Bears down the stretch solidified the hard-earned win.
The University shot a lights-out 87 percent from the charity stripe, going 21-of-24 on the night and a perfect eight-for-eight over the final five minutes.
Ruths finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds on the night, while Stone added 21 points of his own, including an impressive yet characteristic five-for-11 from three-point land. He also added five assists. Grunst chipped in with 13 points.
The Red Alert-led crowd remained on its feet for much of the second half, giving the game a big-time feel and making things difficult for Rochester throughout the evening. The win brought the Bears’ record to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play. Rochester fell to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in the UAA.
Unfortunately, the University failed to carry momentum into Sunday’s afternoon tilt with the No. 14 nationally-ranked Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University. CMU had four players score more than 14 points, en route to a key league victory, 86-80.
Perhaps frustrated with themselves after Friday’s upset loss at the hands of the University of Chicago, the Tartans, which earlier this season shocked the college basketball world by beating Division I Princeton University, opened the game clicking on all cylinders.
After an even first few minutes, CMU rattled off 12 unanswered points and eventually went into halftime with a 46-33 lead.
The Bears managed to cut the lead late in the second half, narrowing the deficit all the way down to two (78-76) with just over three minutes to play. The Tartans proved too tough on this day, however, as A.J. Straub answered with a three and CMU came away from the Field House with a huge league win.
Ruths led four Bears in double figures, scoring a career high 27 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Junior point guard Neal Griffin also had a career day, scoring 13 points. Stone also had 13 with freshman Tyler Nading adding 11 to pace the University.
Had the University won, it would have found itself alone in first place in the highly-competitive UAA. With the loss, though, the Bears fell to 5-2 in league play and remain tied with the Tartans, as well as New York University in first place.
The University, which dropped to 13-5 overall with the loss, has a chance to avenge Sunday’s loss next Friday when it faces this same CMU club on the road in Pittsburgh at 8 p.m.