With the win, Washington U. becomes the 60th program in Division III history to record 1,000 or more wins. The Bears have posted a 1,000-854 (.539) in the program’s 99-year history.
Despite arriving just 45 minutes before game time due to bus problems, the Bears built an early lead of 20-14 at the 11:52 mark behind nine points from senior Rob Keller. CMU responded with its own scoring spree by hitting four free-throws—two of which came after WU senior Michael Faherty was hit with a technical foul—to cap a 9-0 run.
The Bears then dialed long distance as junior Mike Grunst, senior Anthony Hollins and Keller all connected from three-point range to put WU up 35-27. The Bears extended the run to 12 straight points after junior Scott Stone scored on a fast-break lay-up.
Freshman Danny O’Boyle came off the bench and connected on the Bears eighth three-pointer of the first half and WU took its largest lead of the half at 42-30.
Keller had 17 points to lead the Bears at the break, connecting on four three-pointers as WU shot 8-of-16 from beyond the arc. The Bears defense also forced 10 Tartan turnovers.
The second half was much of the same as WU continued to hit from long range. The Bears knocked down three treys early on to hold a double-digit lead at 64-52 with 14:20 remaining. Carnegie Mellon (12-3, 4-1 UAA) trimmed the lead to 79-76 after two free throws from Nate Maurer with 1:41 left and again cut the lead to three at 84-81 after free throws from Clayton Barlow-Wilcox.
However, WU ran the shot clock down on the ensuing possession to two seconds before Stone connected on a three-pointer to seal the victory. Washington U. has won 14 consecutive meetings with CMU and leads the all-time series, 31-3.
Keller tied his career-high with 26 points while Hollins, freshman Troy Ruths and Stone added 12 points apiece. Barlow-Wilcox led Carnegie Mellon with 22 points and Michael Divens added 21. Stone added nine assists and six rebounds in the win.
The Bears shot 48.0 percent from three-point range and hit 12 three-pointers. Carnegie Mellon struggled from beyond the arc hitting just 5-of-24 from downtown.
Washington University (10-6, 2-3 UAA) returns to action Fri., Jan.28 at Brandeis University. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. (EST) in Waltham, Mass.