St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 22 Washington University in St. Louis men’s basketball team will host the 39th Annual Lopata Classic on Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18. The Bears welcome Babson, UW-Eau Claire and Hanover to the Field House for the prestigious tournament.
The Classic will open with UW-Eau Claire facing off with Hanover at 5 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Bears against (RV) Babson at 7 p.m. The losers of those two games will play in the consolation game on Saturday at 3 p.m. and the winners will play in the championship game at 5 p.m. All games will be broadcast on the WashU Sports Network.
WashU’s Leaders
The Bears had a stellar opening weekend with wins over No. 11 Swarthmore and No. 12 Johns Hopkins, led by juniors Hayden Doyle and Drake Kindsvater.
Doyle has a two-game average of 17.5 points after scoring 23 against Swarthmore and 12 against Johns Hopkins. He is always averaging a team-high eight rebounds and has nine assists so far. Kindsvater is averaging 17.0 points with 20 against Swarthmore and 14 against Johns Hopkins. He is averaging seven rebounds per game and has three steals. Sophomore Yogi Oliff is averaging 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and has a team-leading 10 assists.
Scouting Babson
The Beavers – who received votes in the d3hoops.com Top 25 Preseason Poll – is 1-1 on the year after beating Lasell 86-53 in the season opener and falling to Albert Magnus 75-72 on Saturday.
Nate Amado leads Babson with a 25.0 points-per-game average to go with 6.0 rebounds per game and a team-high nine assists this season. Steph Baxter is also averaging double-figures with 11.5 points-per game. Timmy O’Toole leads the Beavers on the boards with 8.5 per game to go with a team-high six steals.
Scouting UW-Eau Claire
The Blugolds are currently 1-1 on the season after falling to St. Norbert 76-64 in the season opener and defeating St. John’s (Minn.) 82-69 on Tuesday evening.
Four players are averaging double-figures, led by Carter Huschka with 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as well as a team-high six blocks Michael Casper is average 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while Cade Hall sits at 14.5 points and a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game. Gunnar Tebon is averaging 10.0 points per game.
Scouting Hanover
Hanover is 2-1 on the season, picking up a 94-60 win over Spalding and a 96-69 win over Wilmington College. The Panthers fell to Trine 85-63 on Saturday in the MSJ Tip-Off Classic.
The Panthers are led by William Herald, who is averaging 14.0 points per game. Avery Saunders has 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while Max Greenamoyer sits at 9.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Game Schedule
Friday, Nov. 17
- 5 p.m. | UW-Eau Claire vs. Hanover
- 7 p.m. | WashU vs. Babson
Saturday, Nov. 18
- 3 p.m. | Consolation Game
- 5 p.m. | Championship Game
About the Lopata Classic
The Lopata Classic is made possible by a gift from the late Stanley Lopata, a Washington University in St. Louis alumnus and emeritus trustee, and his late wife, Lucy. President of Lopata Research and Development Corporation, Stanley founded and was chairman emeritus of the St. Louis-based Carboline Corporation. He also was past president of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society and recipient of the Society’s “Search” Award. Active and dedicated supporters of Washington University, Stanley and Lucy sponsored student scholarships in addition to the Lopata Basketball Classic. They endowed a professorship in chemical engineering and were major benefactors to the construction of several buildings. The Village Housing complex was completed in the fall of 2001, and one of the four buildings was dedicated as the Lucy and Stanley Lopata House. A key leader of the alliance for Washington University, Stanley received an Alliance Achievement Award in 1987, and he is a past recipient of the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the School of Engineering & Applied Science Alumni Achievement Award. In the fall of 1992, Stanley and Lucy were inducted into Washington University’s Sports Hall of Fame in the distinguished service category. Stanley passed away at the age of 85 on Jan. 19, 2000, while Lucy passed away May 24, 2013, at the age of 98.