WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University junior Alex Stoyle (Goffstown, N.H./Tilton School) registered his first career double-double tonight, posting career-highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds as the Judges defeated visiting Emory University, 72-67, in a University Athletic Association (UAA) men's basketball contest.
With the win, Brandeis, ranked No. 25 in the nation by d3hoops.com, improves to 15-4, 6-2 in the UAA, and avenges one of their four losses on the season. Emory falls to 13-5, 5-3 in the UAA.
Stoyle nearly had his double-double in the first 10 minutes of the contest, scoring nine points and seven rebounds early. He had 14 points and eight caroms in the first half, while also collecting all of his career-high three blocked shots. He continued to be just as effective in the second, scoring 13 points and hauling in five boards. Stoyle shot 9-of-12 from the floor, 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and 5-of-5 from the line. His previous career scoring high was 16 points in a win over NYU on Jan. 5. Stoyle also had both of Brandeis's two steals on the night.
Two other Judges reached double figures in scoring. Junior guard Ben Bartoldus (Hillsborough, N.H./Proctor Acad.) scored 20 points, one shy of his season high. He had 11 in the first half and nine in the second. Junior center Youri Dascy (Fall River, Mass./St. Andrews, R.I., School) added 15 points, 13 coming after the intermission, when he hit his first five shots from the field and went 3-of-4 from the line. Brandeis won despite just six points and 0-for-8 shooting from leading scorer Gabriel Moton (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg). Moton did hit all six of his free throws and lead all players with five assists.
For the game, Brandeis outrebounded Emory, 39-30, and outshot the Eagles, 48 percent (23-48) to 39 percent (26-67). The Judges were even better in the second half, missing just 10 shots overall - 12-21 (57%) from the floor and 15-16 (94%) from the line.
Emory put four starters in double figures. Junior guard McPherson Moore (St. Louis, Mo./MICDS) led the way with 19 points, 13 in the second half. He shot 6-for-12 from the field with a 3-pointer and, matching Moton at 6-for-6 from the line. He also tied for team-high honors with five rebounds. Junior forward Jake Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio/The Seven Hills School) had 15 points, while senior guard Alex Greven (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) added 11 and senior forward Michael Friedberg (Woodcliff Lake, N.J./Pascack Hills) had 10. The Eagles had just six assists on their 26 buckets, with Moore finishing with two helpers. Emory stayed in the game by winning the turnover battle, 18-6, with the same margin in points off those turnovers.
The game was a back-and-forth affair. The first half featured four ties and five lead changes. Much as in the previous meeting between the two schools in Atlanta, the visitors held a lead late in the first stanza only to see the hosts rally. After a Greven 3-pointer at the 3:31 mark made it 24-21 in favor the Eagles, Brandeis scored eight of the final 11 points. Four of those points came from Bartoldus, whose offensive rebound with 23 seconds left made it a 29-26 game at the break.
After Dascy opened the second-half scoring on a nice feed from Moton to make it a five-point game, Emory scored seven in a row to reclaim a 33-31 lead on two Moore free throws 1:40 into the half. The game was tied at 37-37 at the 14:32 mark, but Stoyle hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions from opposite corners of the floor as the Judges took their biggest lead to that point at 43-37 with 13:03 on the clock.
Emory responded by keeping the Judges off the board for nearly four minutes. They got within one at 43-42 at the 10-minute mark on a traditional three-point play by Davis, and Michael Florin (Port Washington, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) had a steal that led to a fast-break lay-up that gave EU a 44-43 lead on the next possession.
The teams traded buckets on their next two chances before seven unanswered points Brandeis the lead for good. Two Dascy jumpers in the paint sandwiched a Bartoldus trifecta as the hosts took a 52-46 lead. Emory climbed back within one, 52-51, on a long Davis bomb from the left elbow, but Stoyle answered with his fourth trifecta of the game. That sparked an 11-1 run, in which the next eight Brandeis points came from the free throw line. The lead would get as large as 11 when two Moton foul shots made it 63-52 with just under four minutes to go before EU made its final run.
Down five at 70-65 with 1:13 on the clock, the visitors forced Brandeis to call two timeouts in quick succession with their press. Eventually, they were able to draw an offensive foul on Moton with just under a minute to play. Moore made a quick driving lay-up to make it a one-possession game with 51 seconds remaining. Brandeis called two more timeouts before setting up Moton for an isolation play. He went around his defender to the rim, but his shot spun off the rim and into Greven's hands. The Eagles got one quick look at a 3-pointer to try to tie, but Brandeis collapsed quickly. Greven eventually dribbled in for a 15-footer, but it went off the glass to the right, where Stoyle collected it for his final rebound and two free throws for the final five-point margin, 72-67.
Brandeis can reclaim a share of first place in the UAA on Sunday afternoon when they take on top-ranked Rochester at noon. The Yellowjackets suffered their first loss of the season tonight, 65-51, at NYU. Emory will be playing the Violets at the same time.