The Bears trailed 12-4 early before senior Rob Keller nailed back-to-back, three-pointers to trim the lead to 12-10 with 14:16 remaining. Rochester held its largest lead of the game at 26-16 before WU mounted a comeback. Junior Scott Stone connected from long range and sophomore Brandon York added a fast-break lay-up to cut the lead to 26-21 with 4:54 left.
Rochester (12-3, 3-1 UAA) outrebounded Washington University 20-13, including 8-2 on the offensive end as UR took a 34-26 lead to the locker room. Seth Hauben and Jon Onyiriuka led Rochester with nine points and six rebounds in the opening half. Keller led the Bears with eight first-half points on a perfect two-of-two shooting from long range.
The Yellowjackets continued to dominate the offensive glass early in the second half and scored the first eight points of the period on second chances to move ahead 45-30 with 16:27 remaining.
The Bears would not go away, though, as they responded with a 9-0 run, capped by a deep three-pointer from Keller to trim the lead to 45-39. Keller connected again from long range for the fourth time to cut the lead to 53-51 with 6:53 remaining.
The Bears had a chance to tie the game with 4:00 to play, but junior Mike Grunst was turned away. Jeff Juron of Rochester followed with an 18-footer to push the lead to 57-53.
Keller led the Bears with 18 points and six rebounds, while senior Anthony Hollins added 16 points in the loss. Grunst led the Bears defensively with 10 rebounds and five blocks. Juron led the Yellowjackets with 21 points. Gabe Perez added 16 points and Hauben added 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Washington University (9-6, 1-3 UAA) returns to action Sun., Jan. 23 at Carnegie Mellon University. Tip off is set for noon in Pittsburgh, Pa.