St. Louis, Mo., December 5, 2012 – The No. 6 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team remained undefeated with a 72-49 win at Webster University on Wednesday at Grant Gymnasium in St. Louis.
Washington University (8-0) returns to action at No. 22 ranked Wheaton College (Ill.) Saturday, Dec. 8 in Wheaton, Ill. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. The Thunder has a 6-0 record and host Westminster College Thursday.
Junior guard Alan Aboona led all scorers with 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while senior center Robert Burnett added 10 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Matt Paluckichipped in with nine points and nine rebounds. The Bears, who entered the game the second best rebounding team in NCAA Division III (+15.0), outrebounded Webster 48-25 and had 22 offensive rebounds.
Washington U. started slow against Webster in its second mid week game of the season, but a 10-0 run by the Bears got them in lead for good at 12-7 with 12:51 to play. Palucki had five-straight points during the run, and a three-point play by Palucki gave WUSTL its first lead of the game.
The Bears held onto a one-point lead (14-13) midway through the half, but scored eight-straight points against the Webster zone to make it 22-13. The Gorloks switched defenses on the Bears the entire first half, and a three by Aboona against the zone with 3:14 to play pushed the advantage to double figures (31-21).
Washington U. took a 37-25 halftime lead after a three-pointer by junior guard Tim Cooney with 1:04 to play. Klimek and Palucki each had nine points in the opening half as the Bears shot 42.9 percent (15-35) from the field. WUSTL also outrebounded Webster 25-13, with 12 of them coming on the offensive end.
Webster (4-3) hung around in the second half, but back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard Kevin Bischoff and senior guard Ben Hoeneragainst the zone made it 45-32 with 12:52 to play. After a timeout by head coach Mark Edwards, the Bears put the game out of reach with a 12-0 run to push the advantage to 65-43. Senior guard Max Needle had eight points in the run with a pair of three-pointers and two free-throws.
Roman Robinson (10 points) and Dietrick Sooter (10 points) each scored in double figures for Webster, who shot 38.5 percent from the field in the loss. The Gorloks had their three-game winning streak snapped and dropped its overall record to 4-3.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series 19-2 … The Bears suffered a 61-58 defeat to Webster in their last trip to Grant Gymnasium on Jan. 12, 2011 … Washington U. is 8-0 for the first time since the 2009-10 season.