CASE 97, THIEL 89 ...
CLEVELAND, OH (January 11, 2005) - Case Western Reserve University junior forward Carson Oren (South Bend, IN) led the Spartans with 26 points, surpassing 1,000 points in his career, as Case defeated Thiel College 97-89 in Greenville, PA. Case improves to 4-8 on the season while the Thiel Tomcats (4-10) run their losing streak to six games.
Case opened up a 48-36 first half lead behind 14 points from Oren and 12 points and six rebounds from Funso Lafe (Chesterland, OH). Taking the first-half lead, the Spartans used a 26 to 18 rebounding advantage to counteract the Tomcats 7 of 17 three-point shooting in the first period.
Case stretched their lead to 14 with just 3:25 remaining as the game appeared well in hand for the Spartans. But the Tomcats battled back and cut the Case lead to only four points on a Stephen Laird three point shot with 16 seconds to go. Two free throws apiece from Case's Jeremy Sallee (Hamilton, OH) and Matt Cannan (Dublin, OH) iced the game for the Spartans, giving them their second victory in the last three games.
Lafe finished the game a rebound shy of a double-double as he had 19 points and nine rebounds. Richard Mullen (Columbus, OH) added 18 points for Case with Cannan contributing 15 for the Spartans. Joe Herrman led Thiel with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Oren's game-high 26 points gave him 1,021 on his career. Averaging 20.2 points per game this season, Oren, only a junior, is on pace to become the all-time leading scorer in Case history. Ken Jackson holds the Case career scoring mark with 1,456 points from 1978 through the 1981-82 season.
Case will next travel to St. Louis, MO to take on Washington University on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. (CST).
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