WALTHAM, Mass. - On senior day, the Brandeis University men's basketball team shot 73.1% from the field on 38-of-52 shooting in a 108-78 win over Case Western Reserve, to set a new University Athletic Association record. The 108 points were the most points scored by the Judges under head coach Brian Meehan and the most since 2004 when the Judges scored 102 in a win over Emerson. It was also the most points in a win since scoring 115 against WPI in the 1994-1995 season. With the victory, Brandeis improves to 16-8, 9-4 in the UAA, while Case drops to 7-17, 4-9 UAA.
Three players scored 20 plus points for Brandeis in the impressive shooting performance. Kenny Small (Stratford, Conn./ Stratford) recorded a career-high 24 points on 9-of-10 from the field, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. Senior Kevin Olson (Rockport, Mass./Rockport) finished with 23 points on 8-of-9 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point territory. Olson also was tied for a game-high two steals and grabbed three rebounds. Graduate student Steve DeLuca (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) had 22 points and a team-high seven rebounds. DeLuca went 6-of-8 from the field and 6-of-6 from the stripe. Rookie Vytas Kriskus (Kvedarna, Lithuania/ Holderness School) added in 10 points in 14 minutes played while junior forward Rich Magee (Burke, Va./ Lake Braddock) dished out a team-high four assists.
Case had three players in double digits. They were led by sophomore guard Colin Mulholland (Jacksonville, Fla./ Bishop Kenny), who scored a team-high 12 points on 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Senior guard Steve Young (St. Louis, Mo./ Marquette) put up 11 points while sophomore center Eric Duerr (Gibsonia, Pa./ Pine-Richland) added in 10 points and four rebounds. Sophomore forward Alex Hildebrandt (Akron, Ohio/ Van Wert) had a game-high nine rebounds in the losing effort.
In the first five minutes of the game, The Judges were perfect from the field as they connected on their first 10 shots, six of which were 3-pointers The score was only tied once at the 18:07 mark with a score of 6-6. The Judges would then open up a 25-10 lead with 14:00 to go in the half. Highlighting the run was the 3-point shooting of Olson and DeLuca as they both hit three 3-pointers from outside the arc. At the half, Brandeis was up 62-43, shooting 80% (20-of-25) from the field, 75% (9-of-12) from 3-point range, and converting 92.9% (13-of-14) from the free-throw line while having three players in double figures. DeLuca had 19 first half points and was followed by Olson who went a perfect 6-of-6 from the field for 16 points. Small was the third Judge that got in on the action as he put up 14 points.
The second half was no different as the Judges continued their amazing shooting performance. Olson opened up the scoring with a jumper assisted by Andre Roberson (Springfield, Mass./ Wilbraham and Monson Academy) 11 seconds into the half. From that point forward the Judges held a lead of at least 20 points to finish out the contest. Kriskus' 10 points came all in the second half, highlighted by a steal that he converted into a dunk at the 4:51 mark to slam the door shut on the Spartans. The Judges went on to a 108-78 victory as they closed out their home portion of their season on a high note.
The Judges are currently on a four-game winning streak and will travel to UAA opponent NYU on Saturday, February 28, at 4:00 p.m. for their final regular season game of the year.