WALTHAM, Mass. - Senior guard Kevin Olson (Rockport, Mass./Rockport) hit a career-high seven 3-pointers en route to a game-high 24 points as the Brandeis University men's basketball team cruised past visiting Curry College, 84-50, in their first game of 2009. Brandeis improves to 6-4 on the season, while Curry falls to 2-8.
Olson was on fire in the first half, when he scored 17 of his 24 points. He connected on 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and 6-of-8 overall before the intermission. Olson added two more trifectas in the second half, including a four-point play. When he left the game with just over six minutes gone in the second half, Olson had just connected on his final 3-pointer, giving him just four points fewer than the entire Colonel team as the score stood at 52-28 in favor of the hosts. Olson's 24 points were one shy of his career-high, set last season against Case Western Reserve University.
With the rout on, the entire active Brandeis roster got into the scoring column. Rookie Vytas Kriskus (Kvedarna, Lithuania/Holderness School) tallied a career-high 12 points, all in the second half. Kriskus hit 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Junior forward Terrell Hollins (Springfield, Mass./Longmeadow) had a fine all-around performance scoring nine points, tying with two teammates with for team-high honors with five rebounds and dishing a team-high five assists. Juniors Rich Magee (Burke, Va./Lake Braddock) and Andre Roberson (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson) each had eight points. Magee and grad student Steve DeLuca (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) matched Hollins with five rebounds, while rookie reserves Jaime Shannon (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) and Tyrone Hughes (Dorchester, Mass./Taft School) each had a career-high four assists.
The Judges connected on 35-of-56 from the field to tie their season-high in shooting percentage at 62.5%, while their 11-for-20 performance from beyond the arc was a season-best in 3-pointers and 3-point percentage.
Curry put two players in double figures, led by junior sharpshooter Mark Mastrullo (Billerica, Mass./Billerica), who had 12 points, six in each half. He connected on three 3-pointers, including two late in the second half. Mastrullo also had a team-high four assists. Senior Quashed Simmons (Paterson, N.J./Passaic County Tech) added 10 points, six in the second half, shooting 5-of-13 for the contest. Rookie Gerald Cohen (Roxbury, Mass./Bedford) had nine points and a game-high six rebounds. The Colonels shot just 40.4% from the field (21-of-52) and 23.5% from downtown (4-of-17).
Brandeis is next in action on Friday evening when they host the University of Rochester in their University Athletic Association (UAA) season opener at 8 p.m. Curry's next game is against UMaine-Fort Kent on Wednesday at 7 p.m.