The Observer, February 18, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 18
Men's losing streak reaches eight with two tough losses
Perhaps the most conclusive evidence of the men's basketball team's fall from respectability came last Sunday against Washington University. In that game, the Spartans were blown out by the Bears, 83-63. In their previous meeting against Washington, on Jan. 14 in St. Louis, the Spartans defeated the Bears, 76-74, marking Case's first victory against their archrivals in 15 seasons. The contrast between the two games reveals how far the Spartans have fallen in one month.
Over the past three games, Case's closest margin of defeat has been 20 points. Perhaps more astounding, the Spartans never led once in any of those three games. Their last lead came against Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 4, and ever since the Spartans could not pull out that come-from-behind victory, they have not been quite the same team.
In the defeat to Washington, the Bears shot out to an early 21-7 lead and never looked back, taking a 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime. The Bears shot 52.9 percent from the floor in the half compared to the Spartans' woeful 25.7 percent.
Despite the cold shooting, shot selection does not appear to be the problem.
"We're not taking bad shots," said starting forward Matt Cannan. "We had a ton of open looks against Wash U. We're getting the shots we want, but they're just not going in. We're also missing a lot free throws, which doesn't help."
Nothing changed much in the second half, as the Spartans could not come within 15 points of the lead and ended up losing by 20. For the game, freshman center Mason Conrad led the Spartans with 15 points and seven rebounds. Point guard Jeremy Sallee chipped in with 13 points and five steals. Carson Oren and Funso Lafe, Case's main scoring threats, were held to a combined 15 points and 16 percent shooting.
As impossible as it might seem, the loss on Friday night to Chicago might have been even worse than Sunday's. After Case tied the game five minutes into the first half, the Maroons blew away the Spartans with a 15-0 run. Chicago increased its lead to 51-29 by the end of the half.
The second half was the Jesse Meyer show, as the Chicago guard scored 22 points, 15 coming off three-pointers, in the period. He finished the game with 33 points, leading all scorers. Oren turned in the best performance among the Spartans, scoring 26 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and making three of his four three-point attempts. Conrad also had a solid game offensively, adding 16 points off the bench.
Overall, the Spartans are frustrated that they cannot find a way to break this losing streak. "It's not due to a lack of effort," said Cannan. "We're just missing something. If I could tell you what it is, we probably wouldn't be losing like this."
The men will try to avenge their embarrassing Feb. 6 loss to Rochester on the road tonight against the Yellow Jackets. On Sunday the team will play Brandeis in Waltham, Mass., at 1p.m. The Spartans will then return home for their final home game of the season, a makeup game against Carnegie Mellon due to a cancellation on Jan. 30. Be sure to come out to Veale to cheer on the Spartans one last time this season.
