ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 4 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team opened the season with a 75-53 win over Rhodes in the Field House.
 
Up just five points at halftime, the Bears put together a strong second half to come away with the double-digit win and move to 1-0 on the year.
 
Four Bears scored in double figures, led by a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds from senior Drake Kindsvater, who also had four assists and four blocks. Senior Hayden Doyle had 15 points and four assists while first-year Connor May netted 14 points in his collegiate debut.
 
Junior Yogi Oliff narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds and junior Calvin Kapral grabbed 11 rebounds.
 
Rhodes opened with a 10-1 run before the Bears called a timeout. Out of the break, WashU netted 14-straight points to take a 15-10 lead.
 
Junior Will Grudzinski scored the first seven points of the run with a layup, a dunk and a 3-pointer. Sophomore George Gale had an offensive putback to tie things up at 10 apiece and May scored an and-one play. Kapral capped off the run with a jumper in the paint for a 15-10 edge.
 
The Lynx scored five-straight to take an 18-17 lead and Kindsvater tied it back up at 18 on the front end of a pair of free throws. May followed with a steal and a layup for a two-point edge and Kindsvater laid one in following a Grudzinski steal for a 22-18 lead with 3:52 left in the first half.
 
With 1:02 remaining in the first, Rhodes' Kaleb Green put in a layup to make it a two-point game. Kindsvater pulled down an offensive rebound and dished it to May, who drained a shot from distance to send the Bears to the locker room with a 27-22 lead at the half.
 
The Lynx opened the second half with a 6-0 run, taking a 28-27 lead. The Bears responded with an 8-0 run, starting with a 3-pointer from Doyle, followed by a layup from Gale. On the defensive end, Gale blocked a shot and Oliff grabbed the rebound for a fastbreak layup and hit the free throw after being fouled on the play.
 
Doyle hit another 3-pointer to make it a 38-30 game with 15:26 on the clock. Rhodes' Trevor Lombard was fouled on a 3-pointer, hitting the ensuing free throws to make it a three-point game.
 
May and Doyle responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, giving WashU a 44-35 lead with 13:55 remaining.

The Bears broke into a double-digit lead with 9:11 on the clock on a Kindsvater layup. May then grabbed a defensive rebound and had a give-and-go with Doyle, ending in a dunk for a 52-40 lead.
 
WashU continued to build its lead with a 3-pointer from Doyle followed by a steal and a fastbreak dunk from Kindsvater.
 
A pair of free throws from Oliff and a 3-pointer from Doyle gave the Bears their first 20+ point lead, going up 66-45.
 
A steal and a layup from Oliff with 3:34 on the clock pushed the Bears lead to 71-46. First-year Lleyton Thomas-Johnson scored his first collegiate points, hitting the back end of a pair of free throws for a 26-point lead.
 
WashU put up its final points of the game with 1:23 remaining as sophomore Lucas Vogel drilled a shot from distance on an assist from first-year Yusuf Cisse.
 
The Bears shot 10-for-35 (29%) in the first half and improved to 17-for-38 (45%) in the second half. WashU out-rebounded Rhodes 48-36.
 
WashU is back in action again next Friday at 7 p.m. against Rose-Hulman in the Field House.