The Washington University men’s basketball team fell to Augustana College and Hanover College in the final two games of season-opening, five game road trip. The Bears lost 78-55 to Augustana College in a top-25 matchup on Nov. 22 and fell 56-52 to Hanover College on Nov. 28 to fall to 2-3 on the season.

The No. 20 Bears took an early 8-3 lead against Hanover after two free throws by junior Dylan Richter, but the Panthers rallied to grab a 14-10 advantage with 9:13 left in the first half.

“At the beginning of the first half, we came out less physical,” said senior Caleb Knepper, a co-captain. “We played good defense, but it was basically us sprinting all over, not getting the shot we wanted or making a mental error.”

Wash. U. cut the Hanover lead to 20-18 after Richter made a three-pointer with less than five minutes to go in the half. However, Hanover scored six more points to finish the first half on top 26-20.

In the first half, the Bears shot 34.8 percent from the field compared to 25.7 percent shooting by the Panthers, but the Bears did commit 11 turnovers.

Senior Spencer Gay headed the Bears’ attack to start the second half, scoring two points to cut Hanover’s lead to 26-24. After Wash. U. trimmed the lead to 30-29 with 17:14 to go, the Panthers responded with a 7-1 run.

“We played more confidently and were more comfortable with each other in the second half,” head coach Mark Edwards said.

Trailing by nine with 3:35 to play, the Bears outscored Hanover 9-0 to eventually tie the game at 52 on a layup from Richter.

Hanover called a timeout after Richter’s basket, but co-captain Alex Toth, a junior, stole the ball back with 27 seconds left. After a Bears turnover on that possession, Knepper intentionally fouled Drake Hendricks. Hendricks made both free throws, followed by two more from Grant Pangallo to seal the game.

“It was a disappointing loss because we were in a situation where we could have won the game,” Edwards said. “We put ourselves in that situation not just in the last minutes of the game, but we had opportunities throughout the game to take the game and establish ourselves.”

Gay, Richter and sophomore Ben Hoener all scored in double digits with 17, 11 and 10 points, respectively. “Everybody had good moments,” Edwards said. “Spencer, in the second half, really established himself.”

Even with the loss, the Bears were happy with their defensive effort.

“As a defensive stand point, [it was] very encouraging to only give up 56,” Knepper said. “We have learned about a lot of areas we need to address in practice.”

The game against No. 24 Augustana marked Richter’s first game on the season after recovering from a broken arm. However, the Bears came out slow to start the game, missing their first five shots.

“It was our third game in four days, so physically and mentally, we were very tired,” Knepper said. “It showed with a lot of our shots that were short and missed layups especially after the first fifteen minutes of the game.”

The Vikings ended the first half on a 22-7 run to take a 42-27 lead. Wash. U. shot 37 percent from the floor while Augustana shot 53.3 percent.

“They went on a run right at the end of the first half,” Edwards said. “It put us in a hole, and we had to fight our way out of that hole the rest of the game.”

Opening the second half, the Vikings scored seven of the first 10 points to take a 49-30 lead en route to a 78-55 victory.

“We were just overmatched,” Edwards said. “They were just better than us—their depth, size and their experience.”

Gay scored 16 points while freshman Tim Cooney had a career-high 10 points. “Spencer had a great individual effort, but we didn’t have anybody to support it,” Knepper said.

Wash. U. hosts the 27th Annual Lopata Classic this weekend. The Bears face Tsinghua University from Beijing, China, on Friday at 8 p.m. followed by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday at 8 p.m.