ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team won the 40^th Annual Lopata Tournament, beating UC Santa Cruz 91-72 in the championship game on Saturday afternoon. The Bears are now 8-0 on the year.
 
WashU was led by seniors Drake Kindsvater and Hayden Doyle who each scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kindsvater also had five assists on the day. Junior Calvin Kapral netted 13 points and pulled down seven boards while sophomore Ryan Cohen had 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range and first-year Connor May scored 10 points.
 
The teams exchanged baskets in the opening minutes of the game, tying things at 2-2 and 4-4 before the Banana Slugs took a slight advantage with a 5-0 run to make it 9-4 with 16:14 on the clock.
 
Kindsvater hit a pair of free throws to cut it 9-6 but Santa Cruz's Zino Okah drained a 3-pointer to go up 12-6 at 15:13.
 
The Banana Slugs continued to hold a slight edge over the next few minutes but the Bears went on to tie it up at 17-17. Kapral hit a hook shot and junior Yogi Oliff put in a layup to make it a two-point, 15-13 game. Following a Santa Cruz layup, junior Will Grudzinski hit the front end of a pair of free throws and Oliff drilled a shot from distance to knot the score. A layup from Oliff put the Bears ahead 19-17 with 9:40 remaining.
 
WashU tied things up again at 21 with a turnaround shot from Doyle and a 3-pointer from Grudzinski gave the Bears a 24-21 lead with 8:10 on the clock.
 
After the Banana Slugs tied the game at 26 apiece, Cohen hit back-to-back 3-pointers, giving WashU a 32-26 edge with 5:55 remaining in the first half. First-year Lleyton Thomas-Johnson hit a 3-pointer for a 35-28 lead but back-to-back 3-pointers from Santa Cruz brought the game within one point, 35-34.
 
As the first half wound down, the game was tied at 37 and 39. Santa Cruz's Joe Espy hit the final shot of the half with five seconds remaining to give the Banana Slugs a 41-39 lead at the half.
 
Kapral hit the first shot of the second half to tie things up at 41 and start a 5-0 run for the Bears. Kapral then hit the back end of a pair of free throws and Doyle put in a layup for a 44-41 lead.
 
The teams continued to exchange baskets and Santa Cruz tied things up 48 apiece with 16:29 remaining. The score was tied again at 50 and 52 before the Bears started to build momentum and a lead.
 
Down two, May hit a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 55-54 lead and Doyle followed with a jumper. Kindsvater laid one it and Cohen drained two more 3-pointers for a 65-56 Bears' edge at 12:58, prompting a Santa Cruz timeout.
 
The Banana Slugs scored five-straight points to make it a four-point game midway through the half. Kindsvater hit a floater and May put in a layup to make it 69-63 with 8:17 on the clock.
 
Up five with just under seven minutes left to play, sophomore George Gale put in a layup and Doyle hit a 3-pointer to put the Bears up 76-66.
 
A 3-pointer from May at 5:05 started an 11-0 run for the Bears. Grudzinski laid one in, followed by two jumpers from Doyle and four-straight free throws from Kindsvater to make it an 89-68 game with 1:09 remaining.
 
As a team, the Bears shot 35-for-61 (57.4%) and 10-for-22 (45.5%) from 3-point range. WashU out-rebounded UC-Santa Cruz 34-25.
 
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday when they make the short trip to Fontbonne for a double-header with the women's team. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. WashU then wraps up the 2024 portion of its schedule with a trip to Illinois Wesleyan on Thursday, Dec. 19 for a 7 p.m. game.