Cleveland, Ohio – The No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team dropped its second-straight game with a 75-70 loss at Case Western Reserve on Sunday afternoon. The Bears are now 14-3 overall with a 4-2 UAA mark.

The Bears started off strong, taking a quick 5-0 lead in the first 90 seconds on a Justin Hardy 3-pointer and a jumper from first-year Hayden Doyle.

WashU built up another five-point lead at the 15:41 mark as first-year Jake Wolf put in a layup to give the Bears a 9-4 advantage.

WashU maintained that lead until 11:07 when Case took its first lead of the game. Mitch Predergast drilled a 3-pointer and then put in a layup to give the Spartans an 11-10 edge and force a Bears' timeout.

The teams exchanged baskets over the next few minutes and the game was tied twice, at 12 and 13, before the Spartans went on an 8-0 run including 3-pointers from Cole Frilling and Griffin Kornaker to go up 21-13. Case ended up taking a 27-15 lead with 6:03 following buckets from Brian Hines, Kornaker and Robert Faller.

After falling behind 29-17, graduate student Jack Nolan hit a 3-pointer for WashU to bring the deficit back to single digits with 4:25 left in the first half.

At the 3:22 mark, Doyle started what turned into a 6-0 run for WashU, cutting into the Spartans lead, 33-26. Doyle hit a jumper before senior Charlie Jacob put in a layup. Doyle ended the run with another bucket for the Bears.

Case brought the lead back to double-digits, but Hardy closed it down to seven points with a shot from distance with 36 seconds remaining. The Bears went into halftime down 39-32.

In the first five minutes of the second half, the Spartans outscored WashU 7-2. A 3-pointer from Faller with 15:04 on the clock put Case up 46-35.

Following a timeout, the Bears scored five-straight points on a 3-pointer from Nolan and a layup from senior David Windley, cutting Case's lead to 46-40 and prompting a Spartans' timeout.

Following three free throws from Predergast and an and-one play from Hunter Drenth put the Spartans up 54-43 with just under 11 minutes to play.

Jacob brought the Bears back within six points, hitting a pair of free throws and then converting an and-one play to cut Case's lead to 54-48 with 9:47 left. A jumper at 6:01 from Nolan pulled WashU within five points, 57-52.

In the final five minutes, WashU cut its deficit down to three points twice. With 3:52 on the clock, Hardy was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound and hit both free throws to close Case's advantage to 63-60.

A 3-pointer from Nolan with 2:35 on the clock brought the Bears within two points, 65-63 and another shot from distance from Doyle made it a one-point game, 67-66, with 1:47 on the clock.

Predergast hit a 3-pointer from Case to put the Spartans up by four, but a pair of free throws from Jacob pulled the Bears back within two points, 70-68.

Following a timeout, Predergast hit another 3-pointer for the Spartans, putting them back up by five points, 73-68, but two free throws from Doyle made it a one-possession game once again.

Kornaker hit two free throws with just six seconds on the clock to seal the deal for the Spartans en route to the 75-70 victory.

The Bears' had a tough day at the line in comparison to Case, missing seven free throws (16-for-23) while the Spartans finished 12-for-12.

Four WashU players reached double-figures, led by a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds from Jacob. Hardy also netted 16 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists, while Nolan scored 13 points and pulled down six assists. Doyle scored 13 points, grabbed five four rebounds and dished out five assists.

For Case, Predergast led with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.

WashU now has a four-game homestand as it returns home next weekend for another battle against Carnegie Mellon and Case. The Bears will take on Carnegie at 5:30 p.m. on Friday evening and Case at 12 p.m. on Sunday.