The Spartans (4-8) were led by junior Carson Oren who finished with a game-high 26 points. Junior Funso Lafe added 19 and nine rebounds while junior Richard Mullen and sophomore Matt Cannan chipped in with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Freshman forward Joe Herrmann finished with 20 points, including six-of-11 from three-point range, to pace the Tomcats (4-10). Senior guard Daryl Moore and junior forward Stephen Laird each had 11 while freshman guards Ross Watson and Jason Manningham each added 10.
A pair of Oren free throws pushed the Spartan lead to eight (28-20) with just under nine minutes to go in the opening period. Thiel was able to cut the visitor's lead to one (31-30) with a 10-3 run over the following 2:44, but Case Western closed the half outscoring the Tomcats 17-6 to carry a 48-36 lead into the break.
After watching the Spartans extend their lead to 14 (52-38) early in the second the Tomcats were able to string together an 18-2 run, capped by a three by junior guard C.J. Hunt, to go up by two (56-54) with 15:28 to go in the game.
Mullen's three at the 9:35 mark capped a 22-10 Spartan scoring spree, putting the visitors back up by 10 (76-66). Trailing by 14 (88-74) with just under five minutes remaining, Laird's three with 1:13 to go finished a 2:129-0 Tomcat run and cut the Spartan lead to five (91-86).
Ater a pair of Spartan free throws Laird buried another three to trim the lead to four (93-89) with 16 seconds to play, but Case Western nailed four-straight free throws to escape with the eight-point win.
Despite finishing with season-highs in both field goals (35) and three-point field goals (16), the Tomcats managed to only get to three free throw line a season-low five times. Thiel finished shooting 46.7 percent (35-75) from the floor and 16-of-36 (44.4%) from three-point range.
The Tomcats open Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Saturday, Jan. 15 when they travel to Bethany College. Tip off is set for 4 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Case Western Reserve Univ. vs Thiel College (Pa.) 1-11-05 7:30 pm at Greenville, Pa. - Rissell-Beeghly Gym At Greenville, Pa. - Rissell-Beeghly Gym CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIV. 97, THIEL COLLEGE (PA.) 89 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIV. (4-8) Oren, Carson 8-17 8-10 26; Lafe, Funso 8-17 2-7 19; Mullen, Richard 5-10 4-4 18; Cannan, Matt 4-9 6-6 15; Conrad, Mason 4-7 1-2 9; Impastato, Andrew 2-3 1-2 5; Sallee, Jeremy 1-2 3-4 5; Lenzer, Dave 0-0 0-0 0; Hill, Chris 0-3 0-0 0; Bradford, Brandon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 25-35 97. THIEL COLLEGE (PA.) (4-10) Joe Herrmann 7-17 0-0 20; Stephen Laird 4-6 0-0 11; Daryl Moore 4-10 2-2 11; Ross Watson 5-9 0-1 10; Jason Manningham 4-7 0-0 10; Nick Mihalik 4-5 0-0 8; Damien Williams 2-6 0-0 6; CJ Hunt 2-7 0-0 5; Brad Bowman 1-2 0-0 3; Henry Passerrello 1-3 1-2 3; Gary Gates 1-1 0-0 2; Percy Sweeting 0-2 0-0 0; Max Slater 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-75 3-5 89. Case Western Reserve Univ..... 48 49 - 97 Thiel College (Pa.)........... 36 53 - 89 3-point goals-Case Western Reserve Univ. 8-16 (Mullen, Richard 4-9; Oren, Carson 2-2; Cannan, Matt 1-3; Lafe, Funso 1-1; Impastato, Andrew 0-1), Thiel College (Pa.) 16-36 (Joe Herrmann 6-11; Stephen Laird 3-4; Damien Williams 2-3; Jason Manningham 2-4; Daryl Moore 1-3; Brad Bowman 1-2; CJ Hunt 1-5; Henry Passerrello 0-1; Ross Watson 0-3). Fouled out--Case Western Reserve Univ.-None, Thiel College (Pa.)-None. Rebounds-Case Western Reserve Univ. 47 (Conrad, Mason 9; Lafe, Funso 9), Thiel College (Pa.) 38 (Joe Herrmann 8). Assists-Case Western Reserve Univ. 12 (Impastato, Andrew 4), Thiel College (Pa.) 18 (Daryl Moore 6). Total fouls-Case Western Reserve Univ. 12, Thiel College (Pa.) 25. A-240