HOLLAND, Mich. – The No. 4 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team won the Glenn Van Wieren Classic, hosted by Hope College, with a 94-68 win over the University of Olivet on Saturday afternoon. The Bears improve to 10-1 overall as they head in UAA play next weekend.
 
Junior Ryan Cohen was named the tournament MVP and sophomore Connor May earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
 
Cohen led all scorers with a career-high 25 points including seven made 3-pointers. May netted 16 points and had six rebounds and sophomore Anthony Przybilla scored 14 points and dished out three assists.
 
It was a quick start for WashU as they scored the first six points of the game including two buckets from Przybilla and a pair of free throws from Cohen. Olivet answered with seven-straight points to take a 7-6 lead over the Bears at the 15:54 mark.
 
Down one, the Bears went on a 12-0 run putting them ahead 20-9, all scored on 3-pointers from senior Will Grudzinski, May and Cohen (2).
 
As the first half progressed, WashU continued to hold a double-digit lead for the majority of the time. A jumper from Olivet's Nathan Richardson at 9:04 made it a nine-point, 27-18 game, but the Bears scored two quick buckets to extend the lead back into double-digits, 31-18.
 
With 2:35 remaining, another jumper from Richardson made it a nine-point, 36-27 game and a free throw by Sean Shenker brought it down to an eight-point game.
 
The Bears went back up to an 11-point lead in the final minute but a Shenker 3-pointer with one second on the clock sent the Bears into halftime with a 41-33 lead.
 
The Comets netted the first points of the second half with a jumper from Conner Schipper to make it a six-point, 41-35 game.
 
The Bears, however, proceeded with a 10-0 run, beginning with a 3-pointer from May at the 19:12 mark. Przybilla hit a pair of free throws and May followed with another 3-pointer followed by a jumper to close out the run with a 51-35 Bears' lead.
 
Olivet hit a jumper before Cohen drained a shot from distance and Przybilla netted a pair of free throws to extend WashU's lead to 56-37 with 15:49 on the clock.
 
Midway through the second half, the Comets hit a 3-pointer to make it an 11-point, 64-53 game, which is the closest they would come to the Bears for the rest of the game.
 
Cohen hit another 3-pointer and May followed with a shot from behind the arc, quickly pushing the Bears ahead by 17, 70-53.
 
In the final 4:14, WashU cracked the 20+ point mark, starting with a layup from junior Jake Davis. Cohen hit his final 3-pointer of the day and senior Yogi Oliff stole the ball and laid it in. Grudzinski followed with another steal and layup for a 28-point, 89-61 lead with 2:40 remaining.
 
A layup from first-year Jack Cubbage and a 3-pointer from first-year Colby Smith gave WashU its largest lead of the game, 29 points (94-65) with 35 seconds remaining.
 
As a team, the Bears shot 31-for-60 (51.7%) including a 16-for-31 (51.6%) clip from 3-point range. WashU also out-rebounded Olivet 39-26.
 
WashU begins UAA play next Saturday, January 10 at No. 6 University of Chicago. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m.
 
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