Spartans Keep Rose from First Victory on First Try

CLEVELAND, Ohio. — Tom Rose will have to wait at least one more day to pick up his first victory as Goucher's head coach because the Gophers bowed to Case Western Reserve, 79-58, tonight in the opening round of the 2015 Stephanie Tubbs-Jones Memorial Tournament.

It was the opening game of the season for both teams.

Chris Outing (New Windsor, N.Y./James I. O'Neill) scored Goucher's first four points, knocking down a jumper on the team's second possession to create a 2-2 tie and making a layup nearly four minutes in that reduced Case Western's lead to 6-4.

The next eight points that went up on Goucher's side of the scoreboard were all provided by Mychal Stefanides (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright), who finished with a team-high 11 points. His streak began with a conventional three-point play, included a mid-range jumper and was capped by the only made three-point basket for the Gophers (0-1) the entire game.

At that point, the Spartans (1-0) were ahead by only two points, 14-12, but that changed when they went on an 11-0 run and assumed a 25-12 lead on a dunk by T.J. Duckett with 7:23 left to play in the first half.

By halftime, Case Western had opened up a 40-22 advantage.

The Spartans' lead fluctuated between 15 and 26 points throughout the second half.

Joining Stefanides in double figures for Goucher were Outing and Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park), both with 10 points.

For Case Western, David Black was the leading scorer as he contributed 13 points to the win.

Rosae will get another try at win No. 1 as head coach when the Gophers take on Rochester Inst. of Technology in the tournament's consolation game tomorrow at 5 p.m. The Tigers were bounced in tonight's other opening-round contest by Brooklyn, 91-68.