Despite 18 from Dascy, men's hoops outgunned by Emory, 85-70

Youri Dascy '14
Youri Dascy '14

ATLANTA, Ga. -- The Brandeis and Emory men's basketball teams traded blows in the first half tonight but the Eagles outgunned the Judges in the second stanza to take an 85-70 University Athletic Association victory. EU hit 61 percent from the field (19-31) in the second half, including 7-of-8 from 3-point range, offsetting Brandeis's fine 53 percent (17-32) performance. With the loss, the Judges fall to 13-5 overall, 3-5 in the UAA, while Emory improves to 15-4, 6-2 UAA.

The first half featured five ties and seven lead changes in the first 20 minutes. After Brandeis rookie Youri Dascy (Fall River, Mass./St. Andrews (R.I.) School) hit the game's opening bucket, Emory's Michael Friedberg connected from beyond the arc to give the hosts a quick 3-2 lead. The Eagles maintained the lead, but were never able to pull ahead by more than five points.

Brandeis knotted the score four times before junior guard Tyrone Hughes (Dorchester, Mass./Taft School) gave them the lead backat 27-25 with just under two minutes remaining. The advantage changed hands five more times before EU's Jake Davis converted a traditional three-point play just before halftime to give the hosts a 33-31 lead headed into the locker room. Friedberg led all players with 11 points at the break, including the Eagles' only two 3-pointers. Dascy and Emory's Julien Williams each had eight points.

Brandeis rookie guard Ben Bartoldus (Hillsborough, N.H./Proctor Acad.) opened the scoring in the second half for the sixth tie of the game. The Eagles' Alex Greven answered with a traditional three-point play and the hosts never lost the lead again. The game was still within reach after Dascy was fouled taking the ball to the hole and converted the ensuing free throw to cut the EU lead to 40-38 with 17:13 left.

The Eagles pushed the ball up the floor, and guard Austin Claunch hit a lay-up and got fouled himself. Greven missed the free throw, but the bucket started a 15-6 run in less than four minutes. Emory connected on 6-of-7 in that stretch, including 3-pointers on three-straight possessions by Williams, Claunch and Alex Gulotta. Gulotta closed the run with a fast-break lay-up that made the lead 55-44, Emory, less than seven minutes into the stanza. Brandeis got within nine a couple of times shortly after than, but the Eagles used another 13-4 string to open up a 20-point lead with 4:32 remaining. A mini-run got the Judges within 12, but it was too little, too late.

Dascy tied for game-high honors for Brandeis with 18 points on 7-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line. He also led the Judges with five rebounds. Hughes added 13 points, nine coming in the second half, while senior forward Christian Yemga (Yaounde, Cameroon/Proctor Acad.) had nine of his 11 after the break.

No Brandeis player had more than two assists as the Judges tied for their season-low with seven helpers. Dascy and rookie Alex Stoyle (Goffstown, N.H./Tilton School) each had three blocked shots, helping the team set a season-high. The Judges suffered their first loss of the season in 11 games when they get to the free-throw line more often than their foes. Brandeis had seven more attempts from the charity stripe than Emory, 26-19, but both teams made 16.

Emory, which posted 82 points against Brandeis in an 86-82 overtime loss a week ago, has the two top scoring performances against the Judges this season. Five different players scored in double figures, led by Williams's 18 points, 10 coming in the second half. Claunch notched 14 of his 16 after the break, while also finishing with a game-high eight assists. Greven finished with 14 points, Friedberg had 13 and Davis tallied 10 off the bench. Friedberg pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.

Brandeis takes on UAA leader Rochester on Sunday at noon, looking for their first road win and their first Sunday win in conference play this season, while Emory hosts NYU at the same time.