St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 17 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team edged Wabash College 72-64 in the final game of the 2023 calendar year. It is the 10^th win of the season for the Bears who are currently 10-1 as they head into UAA play next weekend.
 
WashU was led by junior Hayden Doyle's career-high 28 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and had a steal. Junior Drake Kindsvater recorded his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The Bears netted the first two buckets of the game as sophomore Will Grudzinski and Kindsvater each had a layup. Another layup from sophomore Calvin Kapral and a jumper from Doyle put WashU up 8-2 in the first two minutes.
 
A jumper from Wabash's Vinny Buccilla made it a two-point, 10-8 game, and a 3-pointer from Rich Brooks put the Little Giants up 11-10 with 14:35 on the clock.
 
Over the next three-and-a-half minutes, the teams exchanged baskets and the lead changed six times. A 3-pointer from Wabash's Avery Beaver and a jumper from Sam Comer gave Wabash a 20-16 lead, its largest of the game at that point.
 
Doyle answered with a shot from distance to make it a one-point game but another 3-pointer from Brooks and a pair of free throws from Comer extended Wabash's lead to 25-19.
 
The Little Giants maintained a six-point lead for much of next three minutes and then extended it to nine points, 33-24, following a 3-pointer from Ahmoni Jones.
 
A free throw from Kindsvater and a jumper from Grudzinski made it a six-point game again before Wabash's Brooks jammed it home and Beaver netted a shot from distance. This gave the Little Giants an 11-point, 38-27 advantage and the first double-digit lead of the game on either side.
 
The Bears scored the final eight points of the half, starting with a fastbreak jumper from Grudzinski at 2:54. Kindsvater scored on an offense putback and Doyle stole the ball and added a fastbreak jumper. Doyle put in another jumper with one second remaining to send the Bears into the locker room down 40-37.
 
A fastbreak jumper from Kindsvater at the 18:31 mark of the second half made it a one-point game and the Bears took a 45-42 lead on back-to-back Doyle jumpers.
 
A 3-pointer from Wabash's Comer tied things at 45 apiece but a layup from first-year George Gale took back the lead with 15:39 on the clock, making it a 47-45 game.
 
The Bears continued to hold on to a slight of up to three points and finally broke it open at 11:38 when they started a 7-0 run. First-year Lucas Vogel hit a 3-pointer to start things off and Kindsvater netted a pair of free throws. Kapral closed out the run with an offensive putback, making it an eight-point, 56-48 game.
 
Wabash cut it down to two points at 8:10 following a 3-pointer from Vinny Buccilla but the Bears scored the next three points on a free throw from Grudzinski and a layup from Kindsvater to put WashU up 61-56.
 
A 3-pointer from the Little Giants Brooks made it another two-point, 61-59 game but Doyle and Grudzinski netted back-to-back layups to give the Bears a 65-59 lead with 4:06 on the clock.
 
With 1:32 remaining, Wabash's Comer made it a four-point, 66-62, game with a free throw. The Bears went on to make three free throws – two from Kapral and one from Gale. In similar fashion, WashU closed out the game with three free throws – one from Kindsvater and two from sophomore Yogi Oliff – to come away with the 72-64 win.
 
WashU shot 28-for-57 (49.1%) and 3-for-10 (30.0%) from 3-point range. The Bears outrebounded Wabash 40-30.
 
The Bears open up UAA play next Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at the University of Chicago.