St. Louis, Mo., November 10, 2021 – After more than 600 days without a game, the No. 18 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team returned to the court for the 2021-22 season opener against Millikin on Wednesday evening. The Bears certainly did not disappoint, winning the 52-51 thriller at the buzzer.

With just 6.6 seconds remaining in regulation and down by two points, the Bears took a timeout to regroup for one final play.

Graduate student Jack Nolan inbounded the ball to first-year Hayden Doyle and quickly got it back. After four dribbles and a quick crossover, Nolan launched a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give WashU the one-point lead at the buzzer.

The game was a back-and-forth one from the jump, as the lead changed 18 different times and it was tied 16 times.

Nolan put the first points on the board for the Bears to take a slight 3-2 lead over the Big Blue. Millikin, however, went on a 7-2 run to take a 9-5 lead just over five minutes into the first half.

Back-to-back layups from Nolan and Matt Gonzalo gave the Bears a 12-9 advantage with 12:56 remaining. The teams continued to exchange points and Millikin tied things up at 16 apiece with just under 10 left to play in the first half.

After a bucket which gave the Big Blue a lead, senior Justin Hardy drained a 3-pointer to swing things in favor of WashU, 19-18. Millikin took another lead following a Jake Hampton 3-pointer but two free throws from Nolan at the 5:21 mark evened things up at 21.

The Bears took a 24-21 advantage with 4:41 on the clock as Doyle was fouled on a layup and converted on the three-point play.

With 3:40 left in the first, Nolan hit two free throws to give the Bears a 26-23 advantage. A Demarcus Bond jumper at the end of the first half left the Bears up just one point, 26-25, at the break.

The Bears and the Big Blue exchanged points to open the second half but Millikin scored seven-straight points to take the biggest lead of the game thus far, 37-30, with 14:00 on the clock. Michael Akinwumi capped off the run with an offensive rebound and a dunk.

WashU put together a run of its own, starting with a Nolan jumper. Gonzalo hit the front end of a pair of free throws and Kevin Davet netted two to cut Millikin's lead to 37-35 with 11:39 remaining. A Doyle layup just under the 10 minute mark evened things up at 37.

The Big Blue hit back-to-back 3-pointers from Hampton and Calvin Fisher to take a 45-39 lead with 5:27 on the clock, forcing a WashU timeout.

The Bears used an eight-point run to tie things up at 47 with 2:28 remaining. Davet hit the first of two free throws and Hardy put in a layup. Gonzalo netted a shot from behind the arc and Kameron Mack laid one in to conclude the run.

Millikin came out of a timeout to hit two free throws and a jumper from Fisher with seven seconds remaining led to the Bears' dramatic win.

Nolan led all scorers with 22 points to go with six steals and three rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Hardy added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds while Doyle netted seven points in his collegiate debut. Davet and Gonzalo both finished with six points.

Millikin had three players in double-figures, led by 14 points from Fisher, 11 points from Hampton and 10 points from Bond.

The Bears are back in action on Tuesday with a road game at nearby Webster at 7 p.m. From there, WashU travels to Carlinville, Ill. to take on Blackburn next Saturday at 3 p.m.