ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 10 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team pulled out an exciting 77-76 overtime thriller on Saturday evening over No. 5 Gustavus Adolphus, winning the 42
nd Annual Lopata Classic.
Junior
Anthony Przybilla led the Bears with 16 points to go with five rebounds and two assists. Sophomore
Josh Kim netted 13 points and had five assists and junior Lletyon Thomas-Johnson scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
For the second year in a row, Przybilla was named the tournament MVP and Kim earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
The Bears opened the game on a 7-0 run behind a layup from senior
George Gale, a 3-pointer from Thomas-Johnson and a layup from
Anthony Przybilla.
After Gustavus had two buckets in a row, the Bears extended the lead to 12-4 on a layup from Przybilla and a shot from distance from senior
Lucas Vogel.
A 6-0 stretch from the Gusties tied the game at 14-14 midway through the first half and the game was tied again at 17. Three more points from Myles Barnette bumped GAC ahead 20-17 at 8:16 but a quick 3-pointer from senior
Ryan Cohen tied the game at 20 apiece.
Down one point, Kim hit a 3-pointer and Cohen hit the front end of a pair of free throws for a 24-21 Bears' lead at 4:42.
The Gusties tied the game at 26-26 and against at 28. Kim hit a layup to break the deadlock and was fouled, converting the 3-point play.
With 22 seconds left, Gale put in the final bucket of the half, sending the Bears into the break with a 35-32 advantage.
WashU scored the first four points out of halftime on a layup from Przybilla and an offensive putback from Gale for a 39-32 lead.
The Bears continued to hold as much as an eight-point lead as the clock ticked down. Up 48-42 at the 12:31 mark, Gustavus followed with a 6-1 run that brought the score down to just one point, 49-48 at 9:34.
A pair of free throws from Andrew Quam and a layup from Drew Kolander gave the Gusties a one-point edge, 52-51, at 7:55. They went on to extend their lead to 59-52 with 4:37 remaining.
The Bears were down but never out in the final minutes of regulation. A jumper from Vogel with 29 seconds on the clock made it a one-point game. Following a two free throws from the Gusties to bring the score back up to three points, Cohen netted a pair of free throws. Gustavus' Jake Schmitt put in two free throws for a 3-point edge with 11 seconds.
Off a timeout, the Bears looked to Vogel for a 3-pointer. When that didn't go in, first-year
Stryckland Whittley-Ligon grabbed the offensive rebound and quickly dished it to Cohen who put up a 3-pointer to tie the game at the buzzer, 67-67.
Down one point midway through overtime, Przybilla drained a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 71-69 edge at 2:13. Kim then stole the ball and found Przybilla who slammed it home to extend the lead to four points.
A 3-pointer from Gustavus' Obinna Izuora made it a one-point game but Whittley-Ligon had an offensive putback to for a 75-72 lead with just over one minute remaining.
Whittley-Ligon hit the front end of a pair of free throws and GAC's Barnette put in a layup. Przybilla scored the final point for the Bears on a free throw with nine seconds remaining and Barnette slammed one down for GAC with two seconds left to make it a 77-76 game.
Following a timeout, the Bears held on to the lead and the win to improve to 2-0 on the year.
WashU is back home on Friday for a 7 p.m. game against Millikin.
42nd Annual Lopata Classic All-Tournament Team
Max Briggs, Bethany Lutheran
Ian Reesor, Transylvania
Andrew Quam, Gustavus Adolphus
Myles Barnette, Gustavus Adolphus
Josh Kim, WashU
Anthony Przybilla, WashU – MVP
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