ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team defeated Fontbonne 107-57 on Tuesday evening. The Bears are now 9-0 as they head into the final contest of the 2024 portion of the schedule.
 
WashU was led by 17 points and seven rebounds from both sophomore Ryan Cohen and first-year Lleyton Thomas-Johnson, marking new career highs for both players. Sophomore Emmett Lawton scored 11 points, also a new career high, and senior Drake Kindsvater had 10 points in 10 minutes of play.
 
The Bears went up 8-0 in the opening minutes, starting with a 3-pointer from senior Hayden Doyle less than 30 seconds in. Kindsvater put in a layup and junior Will Grudzinski drained a shot from behind the arc with 18:14 on the clock.
 
After Fontbonne's Jordan Lewis put the Griffins on the board, the Bears went on a 13-0 run, starting with a 3-pointer from Doyle. First-year Connor May put in a layup and Kindsvater hit a pair of free throws after being fouled on a steal. Sophomore George Gale laid one it and Kindsvater stole the ball and slammed one home. Gale hit a jumper following an offensive rebound to make it 21-2 with 14:09 on the clock.
 
Fontbonne added five more points and the Bears followed with an 8-0 run, starting with a dunk from Thomas-Johnson. May drained a 3-pointer and Lawton followed with a shot from distance for a 32-7 lead with 11:53 on the clock.
 
Sophomore Lucas Vogel netted a 3-pointer at the 10:23 mark and sophomore Jake Davis put in a layup for a 37-9 edge with 9:56 remaining.
 
At 7:56, Fontbonne began a 10-0 run that made it 40-24 with 6:34 on the clock. The Bears answered with a layup from first-year Yusuf Cisse, followed by a layup from Kindsvater and a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from Lawton go up 49-24.
 
WashU ended the half on a 15-0 run, starting with a layup from Kindsvater. Cohen netted a 3-pointer, followed by a 3-pointer from Lawton. Thomas-Johnson hit a pair of free throws and May put in a jumper following an offensive board. Cohen drained another 3-pointer with one second remaining for a 64-26 lead at the half.
 
Junior Calvin Kapral hit a pair of free throws to start things off in the second half. Following a Fontbonne bucket, the Bears put in five-straight points on a 3-pointer from Cohen and a jumper from Kapral.
 
Thomas-Johnson hit a 3-pointer at 16:14 for a 74-30 lead before Fontbonne scored five-straight. A pair of free throws from Fontbonne's Kendall Horton and a jumper from Charles Nelson made the difference sub-40 but Vogel responded with a 3-pointer. Thomas-Johnson slammed one home following a steal from Vogel and Davis dunked it after an offensive rebound by Lawton.
 
Sophomore Beza Miller scored his first points of the game with a free throw, followed by an and-one play, giving WashU an 87-43 lead with 11:26 on the clock. Cisse scored again on an assist from Vogel at 8:35, reaching a new career high.
 
First-year Liam Smith hit a pair of free throws for his first collegiate points with 7:13 remaining. Miller hit a 3-pointer with 2:37 remaining and Smith put in two more free throws, giving him a career-high.
 
Thomas-Johnson scored the final points of the game, slamming it home following a steal from Doyle.
 
WashU has one more game of the 2024 portion of its season, as the Bears travel to Illinois Wesleyan next Thursday, Dec. 19 for a 7 p.m. tip. The Bears wrap up the non-conference slate on Saturday, Jan. 4 with a 2 p.m. ET game at Wabash.
 
WashU begins the UAA slate on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. against Chicago in the Field House.