St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 17 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team had four players reach double figures as the Bears downed Fontbonne University 96-75 on Saturday afternoon. WashU is now 8-1 on the year heading into the final two games of 2023.
 
Junior Drake Kindsvater led with 19 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Junior Hayden Doyle had 13 points and four assists while sophomore Yogi Oliff scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists. Junior Kyle Beedon netted 11 points including three 3-pointers.
 
The Bears quickly took a lead in the opening minutes of play and never relinquished it.
 
Tied 2-2 with 17:08 on the clock, Oliff hit the front end of a pair of free throws. Kindsvater grabbed the offensive rebound off Oliff's second shot and netted a layup. Oliff then stole the ball and laid it up for a 7-2 Bears' edge.
 
WashU took its first double-digit lead of the game (19-9) at the 12:56 mark following a 3-pointer from Doyle and a free throw from Kindsvater. A 3-pointer from Fontbonne's Charles Nelson brought it down to a seven-point game but the Bears scored five-straight on two free throws from Kindsvater and a 3-pointer from first-year Ryan Cohen to go up 24-12 with 11:18 on the clock.
 
The Griffins cut it down to nine points, 35-26, with 6:01 remaining in the first half but the Bears went on a 10-0 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes.
 
First-year George Gale put in a bucket to start the run, followed by back-to-back layups from sophomore Will Grudzinski. Senior Jabari Chiphe hit a pair of free throws and then put in a layup to give WashU a 45-28 advantage.
 
Fontbonne scored the final four points of the half to send the Bears into the break with a 47-32 lead.
 
Sophomore Calvin Kapral opened the second half with a layup before Fontbonne's Adam Painter hit a jumper and Jordan Lewis drained a 3-pointer to make it a 49-37 game.
 
WashU went on a 7-0 run to boost its lead to more than 20 points with 15:48 remaining. Doyle drilled a shot from distance and Kindsvater followed with a layup and a pair of free throws to extend the Bears' lead to 60-39.
 
Cohen hit a 3-pointer at 13:36 to put the Bears up 66-43 and first-year Lucas Vogel drained a 3-pointer three minutes later for a 71-47 advantage.
 
Fontbonne cut it 16 points, 87-71, at the 3:44 mark following a Grant Hastings jumper, which would be the smallest gap for the remainder of the game.
 
Junior Jonathan Coffy hit a jumper followed by a 3-pointer from first-year Jake Davis to give WashU a 92-71 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
 
With 1:44 on the clock, first-year Emmett Lawton continued the hot streak for the rookie, hitting a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 22-point, 95-73 lead. Senior Chidera Nwokolo hit the back end of a pair of free throws with 19 seconds remaining to give WashU the 96-75 lead.
 
The Bears forced 20 Fontbonne turnovers and recorded 15 steals on the day. WashU shot 11-for-27 (40.7%) from 3-point range and 33-for-60 (55.0%) overall.
 
WashU is back at home tomorrow with a 3 p.m. tip against Principia.