The Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball team had another tough weekend, extending their losing streak to nine games with losses against the University of Chicago and against Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). The Spartans are now 5-15 overall and 0-9 in the University Athletic Association.

In the first contest, CWRU fell 99-73 against Chicago. It was their second game against Chicago in the past week. Third-year forward T.J. Duckett scored a career high in points with 25 and added 10 rebounds, but it was not enough. Chicago was led by second-year guard Noah Karras, who made 11 three-pointers in the contest and scored 39 points overall.

Duckett started the game off hot for the Spartans, pushing them to an early advantage in the contest. Chicago would respond however, building a six point lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. Third-year guard Colin Zucker scored the next eight points for the Spartans to tie the game at 28 with just over five minutes left to go in the half. From that moment on, the Spartans were unable to score effectively. The team was down 43-30 at the half. Despite Duckett and Zucker shooting 9-for-12 in the first half, the team as a whole still shot only 35.5 percent in the first half.

In the second half, the Spartans were unable to do much as Chicago continued to expand their lead. Karras wound up making seven more three point attempts in the second half as he scored 27 points. At one point, Chicago built their lead to over 30 points.

Against WashU in the second game, the Spartans started out the contest strong, but were unable to hold back the Bears towards the end of the first half. The Spartans started off hot, having a 14-12 advantage with just over 12 minutes left to play in the half. The Bears caught fire, surging ahead with a 7-2 run. The teams went back and forth after that as Duckett and Zucker kept the Spartans close. The Bears would go on another run late in the half, but first-year guard Nick Aloi kept the Spartans in the game with eight points in the final minutes of the half.

As the second half started, the Spartans found themselves down 42-39. The Bears went on a 12-0 run eventually expanding their lead to as much as 25 points in the half. The Spartans proceeded to then play their first-year reserve guards to try and provide some spark. That is exactly what happened as CWRU outscored WashU 39-19 over the course of the rest of the game, eventually closing the lead to 97-91. The Bears was able to seal the game away with free throws, winning by a final score of 102-97.

When asked how the Spartans could get some wins this weekend, Head Coach Todd McGuinness said, “We need to keep laying the foundation for the future of the program, competing and playing hard in these games. We need to stay positive and keep putting in the hard work.”

The Spartans play Friday, Feb. 10 against New York University and against Brandeis University on Sunday, Feb. 12.