St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 23 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team fell to (RV) Pomona-Pitzer, 71-69, in overtime on Saturday evening in the 38^th Annual Lopata Classic final.
 
 Four Bears reached double-figures, led by first-year Will Grudzinski with 17 points and four rebounds. Grudzinski's 12 3-pointers this weekend tied the Lopata Classic record for most tournament 3-pointers.
 
Graduate Charlie Jacob and sophomore Drake Kindsvater each netted 17 points with four and five rebounds respectively. Sophomore Hayden Doyle scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out six assists.
 
The Bears started the game going up four points, 7-3, following a 3-pointer from Jacob less than three minutes in. The teams exchanged points for the next few minutes until WashU went up 14-7 with 13:38 left following three free throws from senior Kevin Davet.
 
The Sagehens went on a 8-0 run, taking a 15-14 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. The teams continued to exchange points, with no bigger lead than two points on either side until 2:23 left when a layup from Pomona-Pitzer's Brendan Mora put the Sagehens up 29-25.
 
With 1:04 remaining in the first half, Pomona-Pitzer was up four points again, 31-27, but the Bears closed the half out on a 4-0 run behind jumpers from Jacob and Doyle to tie things up at 31 apiece at the half.
 
The Sagehens' Pete Boyle hit a 3-pointer out of the game to go up 34-31. A jumper from Mora extended the lead to four points and another jumper from Mora and a 3-pointer from Owen Avdalovic put Pomona-Pitzer up 43-36 with 13:50 on the clock.
 
A free throw and a jumper from Doyle and a jumper from Kindsvater cut Pomona-Pitzer's lead down to 43-41, prompting a timeout from the Sagehens.
 
Out of the timeout, Pomona-Pitzer built its lead back up to six points following a 3-pointer from Boyle.
 
The Sagehens remained in the lead until 4:06 after the Bears went on a 7-0 run. Doyle started the run with a jumper and Kindsvater followed with an offensive putback. Grudzinski drained a shot from distance with 3:28 remaining to put WashU up 56-54, prompting the Sagehens to call a timeout.
 
With just 18 seconds left and tied a 58, Jacob netted a jumper to put the Bears up by two. The Sagehens remained relentless and Mora netted a layup as the buzzer went off to send the game into overtime.
 
Pomona-Pitzer came out to take a 65-60 lead but the Bears tied things up with 1:51 remaining following a jumper from Jacob and a 3-pointer from Grudzinski.
 
Back-to-back buckets from Cookson put the Sagehens up 69-65 with 17 seconds left.
 
Grudzinksi made it a one-point game with a 3-pointer with six seconds on the clock. A pair of free throws from Peyton Mullarkey put the Sagehens back up by three points. Doyle ended things with the front end of a pair of free throws and the final attempt to tie the game was unsuccessful, giving Pomona-Pitzer the win.
 
WashU is back in action on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. contest at Fontbonne. The Bears return home on Sunday, Dec. 11 for a 3 p.m. game against Principia.
 
38^th Lopata Classic All-Tournament Team
Cody Baer, Eureka
Derrick Johnson, Olivet
Joe Cookson, Pomona-Pitzer (MVP)
Brendan Mora, Pomona-Pitzer
Charlie Jacob, WashU
Will Grudzinski, WashU