The top-ranked men’s basketball team won the 25th Annual Lopata Classic with two victories last weekend at home. The Bears have now won 20 straight Lopata Classic games and 10 overall tournament titles.
Five Bears scored in double figures to lead the team to an 85-57 victory over Hamilton College in the first game Dec. 5. Senior Tyler Nading recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds and moved into third place on the all-time steals list with 155. Freshman Dylan Richter pumped in a career-high 11 points, while sophomore Caleb Knepper also added 11 off the bench. Senior Sean Wallis added 10 points, while freshman Alex Toth had career-best 10 points.
In the second game Dec. 6, Nading had a game-high 20 points and added nine rebounds as WUSTL posted a 93-86 victory over No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan University.
Nading was 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line, moving past Jim Barton (1954-57) into 11th on the all-time scoring list with 1,232 career points. Junior Aaron Thompson added 16 points and a career-high 10 assists, while Richter also scored in double figures with a career-high 15 points.
WUSTL shot 56.7 percent (34-60) from the field for the game and hit 47.8 percent (11-23) from three-point range. The Bears outrebounded the Titans, 33-29, after only having 11 boards in the first 20 minutes of action. WUSTL committed a season-low nine turnovers in the victory, including just one in the first half.
The Bears (7-0) host Fontbonne University at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, in the WU Field House, then travel to Elmhurst, Ill., Dec. 19-20 to participate in the Elmhurst Bluejay Classic before the holiday break. Their season resumes at 3 p.m. Jan. 5 against Webster University.
Women’s basketball drops two on road
The No. 9 women’s basketball team dropped a pair of games at the NBC Camps Whit Classic in Spokane, Wash., last weekend.
The Bears fell to tournament host Whitworth University, 73-68, Dec. 5 and then lost to Whitman College, 72-60, Dec. 6.
Senior guard Halsey Ward led WUSTL in the first loss with a season-high 17 points and tied her career-high with four three-point baskets. In the second game, junior Zoe Unruh led the team with a season-high 17 points and was named to the all-tournament team.
The Bears (4-3) return to action at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at the WU Field House, hosting Fontbonne University, and then travel to Hanover, Ind., Dec. 19-20 to play in the Hanover College Eleanore Moyer Classic before the break. Their season resumes at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 5 against Webster University.
Swim teams have productive meet
A total of five school records were broken as the WUSTL men’s and women’s swim teams both grabbed a second-place finish at the Wheaton Invitational Dec. 5-6 in Wheaton, Ill.
Junior Alex Beyer was the star for the men’s team, breaking three school records, setting three automatic NCAA qualifying times and four provisional marks. Freshman Karina Stridh broke a pair of school records for the women’s team, also making three NCAA “A” cuts and four provisional marks.
Beyer broke the WUSTL record in the 500-yard freestyle (4:28.73), the 200-yard freestyle (1:38.08) and the 400-yard individual medley (3:57.79).
Stridh’s school-record-breaking performances came in the 100-yard freestyle (51.19) and the 50-yard freestyle (23.56). She also set an automatic NCAA time of 57.32 in the 100-yard backstroke.
The final NCAA qualifying tally for the weekend was six automatic times and 30 provisional cuts. Both the men’s and women’s teams had three automatic qualifying times, with the men posting 19 NCAA “B” cuts and the women submitting 11 provisional marks.
The Wheaton Invitational was the last competition for the fall semester. Both teams return to action Jan. 9, when they host Lindenwood University at the Millstone Pool.