Fulton, Mo. – In its first game back in nearly three weeks, the Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team rolled past Westminster College, 86-49, on Friday evening. The Bears are now 8-2 on the season heading into the new year.
 
First-year Will Grudzinski led all scorers with 15 points with graduate Charlie Jacob netted 10 points. Sophomore Hayden Doyle and first-year Calvin Kapral each had nine points. Jake Wolf grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
 
After Westminster tied things up at four points apiece, WashU went on 7-0 run to go up 11-4. Sophomore Drake Kindsvater started the run with a jumper and Doyle netted a fastbreak 3-pointer. Wolf put in a jumper to complete the run for the Bears.
 
With 13:26 remaining in the first half, Grudzinski drained a shot from distance to give WashU its first double-digit lead, 16-5.
 
Jacob netted a 3-pointer with 8:37 on the clock and then hit a jumper to give the Bears a 27-12 edge. After a quick 3-pointer from Westminster's Jaxon Althaus, WashU went on a 9-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Jabari Chiphe, a jumper from Kindsvater, a layup from Doyle a pair of free throws form Grudzinski to go up 35-15 with just over five minutes remaining.
 
Senior Kevin Davet netted five-straight points for WashU to extend the lead to 41-17 with just over two minutes on the clock. A 3-pointer from first-year Yogi Oliff with 30 seconds remaining gave the Bears a 44-20 lead heading into the half.
 
WashU continued to build its lead in the second half, making the gap 31 points with 14:02 remaining. Grudzinski started the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a pair of free throws from Kindsvater. A layup from Grudzinski put the Bears up 60-29.
 
With just under six minutes remaining, Capral hit the back end of a pair of free throws and a jumper and Tyler Van Eekeren drilled a 3-pointer. Chiphe stole the ball and laid it in and Kyle Beedon hit a shot from distance to put WashU up 42 points, 84-42, which was the largest lead of the game for WashU.
 
The Bears shot 31-for-58 (53.4%) from the floor and 10-for-20 (50%) from 3-point range.
 
Defensively, WashU forced 20 turnovers and recorded 13 steals. The Bears limited Westminster to 20-for-56 (35.7%) from the floor.
 
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday, January 3 with a road game at Illinois Wesleyan at 7 p.m. before returning home to begin UAA play against Chicago on January 7 at 3 p.m.