Newton, Mass. (courtest Lasell sports information) – Junior guard Derek Retos (No. Attleboro, Mass./Brimmer and May School) hit seven 3-pointers for the second game in a row, tying a career-high with 28 points, as the Brandeis men's basketball team defeated host Lasell College, 72-56, in a non-conference matchup Tuesday evening. The victory was the sixth straight for the Judges, who improved to 6-1 on the season, while Lasell slipped to 1-6 with the loss.
Derek Retos connected on 7-of-10 from downtown and is now 14-of-21 in the past two games from beyind the arc. With his 22 trifectas this season, he has moved into a tie for eighth on Brandeis's career list with 134, matching Steve DeLuca '08, MA '09. Junior guard Gabriel Moton (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg) added 12 points for the visitors, who also got nine points and a game-high eight rebounds from Youri Dascy (Fall River, Mass./St Andrews School, R.I.) The Judges outrebounded Lasell, 46-28.
Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Arthur Alexander (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) each scored 13 for Lasell, who also got 12 points from Sean Bertanza (Seymour, Conn.) and 11 from Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.).
Brandeis held a slim 10-9 edge with 10 minutes left in the first half, before using a 10-2 run over six minutes to take a 20-11 lead with 4:18 remaining. After an Arthur Alexander 3-pointer cut the lead to 20-14, Retos scored the final 11 points of the half for Brandeis, helping the visitors take a 31-15 lead into the locker room. Retos nearly outscored the Lasers singlehandedly with 14 points.
Lasell opened the second half scoring nine in a row to cut the deficit to seven at 31-24. Dascy scored the next seven points for Brandeis, pushing the Judges' lead back to 38-26. Don Stephens (West Palm Beach, Fla.) knocked down a trifecta for Lasell, followed by a Bertanza layup drew the Lasers back within seven at 38-31. Retos answered with a four-point play for Brandeis, to push the lead back to 42-31.
Brandon Ganesh made a jumper with 12:04 remaining in the half to bring Lasell within nine at 44-35, but Retos drilled back-to-back long balls to give Brandeis a 50-35 lead, and the Judges were able to hold off a pair of Lasell runs to earn the victory.
Brandeis will be back in action on Wednesday December 5th when they host MCLA at 7 p.m. Lasell will return to the hardwood on Thursday December 6th, when they will face-off with Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe Emerson at 7 p.m.