Balanced scoring with five players in double figures helped lead the University of Rochester men's basketball team to an 86-68 win over Case Western Reserve on Friday night, earning the Yellowjackets their first University Athletic Association win of the year and stopping a three-game losing skid.
The game got off to a great start when in opening five minutes there were numerous blocked shots, lots quality shooting and fast-paced back and forth play. The Yellowjackets (10-5, 1-3 UAA) were then able to go on an 11-3 run to jump out to a 10 point lead at 22-12.
Rochester kept the up-tempo play going with a
John DiBartolomeo three-point play followed quickly by a
Nate Vernon fast break 3-pointer. A
Marcus Williams layup then made the lead 15 at the midway point of the half.
Nate Novosel scoring six straight points allowed the Yellowjackets to balloon their lead up to 22 with 6:35 remaining in the half. The senior finished with 15 points in the first 20 minutes.
Julien Person, Tom Summers and David Thompson helped claw the Spartans (8-7, 0-4 UAA) back within 10 after an 18-6 run to end the half. The three ended the half with 29 of the teams 38 points. The period ended with Rochester up by 10, leading 48-38.
DiBartolomeo also paced UR with a great first half consisting of 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The Yellowjackets shot 58% (18-31) from the floor while Case was shooting at a solid 50% (14-28) at the midway point.
Case nabbed the first six points of the second half and was able to pull within four just two and a half minutes in. But UR quickly bounced back after two flashy passes by DiBartolomeo to junior big man
Rob Reid. Then
Chris Dende hit a deep three and the Rochester lead was back up to 11.
The UR lead was cut to as little as six at 13:59, but then a 12-1 run helped the Yellowjackets grab a 17 point lead with just over nine minutes left in the game.
After the Spartans kept battling to within 12, two Williams layup's paired with a DiBartolomeo 3-pointer from the win helped Rochester get its lead back to 20 with less than four minutes to play. The lead never dipped below 18 for the remainder of the game as the Yellowjackets cruised to their first conference win of the season.
Leading the way for UR was Novosel who finished with 23 points (10-16 FG) and three rebounds. DiBartolomeo finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals. The other top scorers for Rochester were Dende (15 points), Reid (14 points) and Williams (10 points).
Case was led by Person who set a career high with 18 points on 7 of 7 shooting, including 4-4 from 3-point range. Summers and Thompson also scored in double figures, each notching 13 points.
Rochester looks to make it two straight in the UAA when they host Carnegie Mellon on Sunday.
