CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – The No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team began the new year with a 68-60 win over Wabash on the road. The Bears are now 10-1 on the year as they head in UAA play next weekend.
 
Senior Hayden Doyle led WashU with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Junior Will Grudzinski netted a season-high 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds while first-year Connor May was just shy of a double-double with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
The teams exchanged baskets in the opening minutes and the Bears took their first multi-point lead at the 15:26 mark following a layup from sophomore George Gale and a 3-pointer from May.
 
The Little Giants tied the game at eight and took a 10-8 lead before senior Drake Kindsvater hit a tying layup at 12:17.
 
Over the next several minutes, the game would be tied four more times (15, 17, 19, 21) with neither team taking more than a two-point lead.
 
With 5:59 on the clock, Grudzinski drained a shot from distance to start a 7-0 run. May followed with a 3-pointer and hit the ensuing free throw after being fouled to make it a 28-21 game with 4:44 remaining in the first half.
 
Wabash cut it down to three points but the Bears hit five-straight on a jumper and 3-pointer from Doyle to go up 33-25 with just over two minutes left. Another 3-pointer on a fastbreak from Doyle made it a nine-point game and the Little Giants closed out the first half with a pair of free throws to send the Bears into halftime with a 36-29 edge.
 
Coming out of the half, the Bears took their first double-digit lead of the game on a fastbreak layup from Grudzinski at the 16:44 mark. Gale stole the ball and sent it up to Kindsvater who laid it in, then hit the ensuing free throw after a foul to put WashU up 43-30.
 
Doyle then hit back-to-back layups and a free throw to give the Bears a 48-30 lead with 15:09 remaining. A 3-pointer from Grudzinski extended the lead to 20 points, 51-31 at the 14:14 mark.
 
The Bears' largest lead was 22 points when sophomore Jake Davis put in a layup to make it 56-34. WashU continued to lead by double-digits until Wabash went on a 8-0 run to whittle the lead down to six points with 3:21 left to play.
 
Up six with 48 seconds remaining, Doyle hit a pair of free throws to close things out.
 
WashU shot 27-for-58 (46.6%) from the floor and out-rebounded the Little Giants 46-34.
 
The Bears begin their UAA slate next Saturday with a 1-p.m. home game against Chicago, as part of a doubleheader with the women's team which plays at 3 p.m.