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Case Reserve 78, Ohio Wesleyan 68
Dec. 30, 2008
![[ Rob Gardiner ]](../images/gardine2.jpg)
Junior guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) hit a 3-pointer to bring Ohio Wesleyan within 9-7, but Case Reserve scored the next 6 points and later pulled away with an 18-3 run to defeat the Bishops in the championship game of the Bill Sudeck Holiday Tournament, hosted by Case Western Reserve University on Tuesday in Cleveland.
In Tuesday's consolation game, Manchester defeated Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 104-88.
The Spartans jumped to an early 4-0 lead on baskets by Tom Summers and Steve Young only to see Ohio Wesleyan close the gap to 6-4 courtesy of hoops by junior post Brent Pleiman (Russia) and senior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes).
Reid Anderson answered with a 3-pointer for Case Reserve, but Gardiner responded in kind with a trifecta that brought the Bishops within 9-7 just under 5 minutes into the game.
Case Reserve stretched the lead to 15-7 on a pair of free throws by Eric Duerr, a lay-in by Summers and a jumper by Kevin Herring.
Freshman wing Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome) followed with a bucket to end the Bishop dry spell, but the Spartans then took off on an 18-3 burst, with Reid Anderson and Colin Mullholland each hitting a pair of 3-pointers, to take a 33-12 lead with 7:00 left in the first half.
Case Reserve led by as many as 22 points, that coming on Summers' lay-in that made it a 38-16 game with 4:47 left in the first half, and the Spartans were still up by a 65-48 margin with less than 5 minutes left in the game.
The Bishops rallied by putting together an 11-3 spurt that featured a 3-pointer, a jumper from the lane and a 3-point play by Miller, along with baskets by sophomore wing Dillon McBride (Medina) and sophomore guard Mike Schwartz (Upper Arlington), and all of a sudden Ohio Wesleyan was within 68-59 with 3:33 left in regulation time.
Ohio Wesleyan cut the deficit to 8 points on 2 occasions, but the Spartans had an answer each time and were able to finish off the win.
Miller led the Bishops with 26 points, while Pleiman finished with 10 points.
Herring led the Spartans with 19 points, Summers compiled 18 points and 15 rebounds, Bryan Erce scored 13 points and Anderson added 11 points.
Miller and Pleiman represented the Bishops on the all-tournament team.