Tartans Win Big at Case Western 86-72

Jan. 25 – (CLEVELAND, Ohio) – A career night by senior Greg Gonzalez (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) led the Tartans to a much needed 86-72 road University Athletic Association (UAA) win Friday night at Case Western Reserve University. The Tartans are now 11-4 overall and 1-3 in the UAA while the Spartans fall to 7-8 and 0-4 in the league.

The Tartans came out of the gate with something to prove and built a lead in the first half the home team couldn't recover from. A three-pointer by senior guard Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa.) at the 15:50 mark of the first period answered a trey by Case Western's Brad Sutton and gave the Tartans a 14-12 lead. Three minutes later the Tartans had a 23-18 lead in which Gonzalez scored seven straight for the Cardinal and Gray who didn't trail again.

Gonzalez and Kozak would lead the Tartans to 50% shooting from the field in the first period and a 42-34 halftime advantage with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Junior guard Ryan Einwag (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) was the man on offense for the Tartans in the second period as he consistently made shots at key moments and finished the game with 30 points and seven rebounds. Gonzalez scored a career-high 25 points and pulled down 12 boards and tied his career-high in blocked shots with four.

Junior Jon Wolleben (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) quieted the Spartan crowd with a jumper from the baseline giving the Tartans an eight-point advantage after the home team cut the deficit to six with 6:45 to play. He then had two important offensive rebounds in the last three minutes when Case was trying to cut into the Tartans 10-point lead.

Following Einwag and Gonzalez in points was Kozak who finished with 16 tallies and four assists. Case was led by Mason Conrad's 22 points and 10 boards.

The Tartans now head to Atlanta, Georgia for a 12:00 p.m. tip against Emory University on Sunday, January 27th.