CLEVELAND, Ohio (Dec. 30, 2009) – The Thiel College men's basketball team whittled a late 14-point Case Western Reserve lead to just three points with two-minutes to go, but couldn't complete the comeback, as the Tomcats fell to the Spartans, 77-70, in late action Tuesday night.

Thiel jumped out to a four-point lead, 6-2, at the 17:35 mark, but Case reversed the lead roughly three minutes later as a layup put them up four, 12-8.  The Spartans increased their lead to nine, 23-14, at 10:08, but Thiel scored four of the last six points of the half and led 34-33 at the break.

Case Western Reserve came out strong in the second half as they outscored the Tomcats 14-3 in the first seven minutes to take a 48-36 lead at the 13:10 mark. The Spartans lead would not dip below five until the last two minutes of the game.  A Devon Adams (Philadelphia, Pa./George Junior Republic) layup at 2:01 brought Thiel within three, 71-68, but Case hit 6-of-6 free throws down the stretch to win its fourth straight game.

Thiel was led offensively by freshman Blair Rozenblad (Youngstown, Ohio/Kennedy Catholic) who scored 21 points. Adams chipped in 17 points and a team-high four assists, while Sean Devinney (Arsenal, Pa./Central Catholic) (Arsenal, Pa./Central Catholic) tossed in 11 points.

Thiel (3-6) will play Roanoke (4-4) at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday.