Lionel SobehartTrailing at halftime, the Washington University men’s basketball team overwhelmed the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens with brilliant shooting in the second half Saturday night en route to an 81-65 victory and the first place trophy at the 23rd Annual Lopata Classic at the Wash. U. Field House.
The Bears fell behind 28-25 at halftime, but hit an uncanny 19 of their first 22 shots in the second half to take control of the game. Sophomore forward Tyler Nading led the Red and Green with the first double-double of his career by scoring 22 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Nading’s performance earned him Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament. The Bears (5-1) handed the Sagehens their first loss of the season.
Sophomore guard Sean Wallis also recorded the first double-double of his career by dishing out a stunning 12 assists in addition to his 10 points. He joined Nading on the All-Tournament Team.
“It felt great to get rolling,” Wallis said after his stellar performance. “Our goal was to win our own tournament and it felt really nice to play as well as we did.”
Wash. U. forced Pomona-Pitzer to miss its first eight shots of the game and jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. But the Bears ran into a dry spell and did not convert a field goal for the next 7:23, allowing the Sagehens to take a 15-10 advantage midway through the first half. A pair of three-pointers late in the half from freshman Aaron Thompson kept the Bear close at the break.
Nading hit two three-pointers early in the second half and Thompson, who scored a career-high 16 points, added another pair of treys himself, as Wash. U. took advantage of the long-ball by converting seven of nine from beyond the break in the second half. Wash. U. built its largest lead at 70-48 after junior forward Troy Ruths, who contributed 21 points, converted a fast break layup.
“In the second half, we came out with more confidence and had our legs under us,” Wallis said. “We played our best half of the season so far.”
On Friday, the Bears defeated Luther College 87-71 at the Wash. U. Field House to gain a spot in the championship game against Pomona-Pitzer, who defeated Worcester State College 89-61 in the evening’s nightcap. Wallis led the Red and Green offense with a career-high 20 points.
Wash. U. made an early run and quickly jumped ahead 10-2. The Bears defense held Luther to 30.8 percent shooting in the first half and led at the break 36-25. Luther cut the lead to eight early in the second half, but Ruths answered by scoring ten of the Bears’ first 15 points to extend the lead to 14. Ruths finished the game with 19 points and nine rebounds.
“We’re pretty much where we want to be right now,” Nading said after the tournament. “We’re coming together as a team.”
The Bears return to action Dec. 9 when they travel to Bloomington, Ill. to battle 24th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University. Last season, then top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan had no trouble against the Bears, easily defeating Wash. U. 83-56.