NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Brandeis men's basketball team were held to 25 percent from the floor and 22 percent from downtown in the second half after connecting on 48 percent overall and 62 percent from deep in the first today as the Judges dropped a 64-58 decision at rival New York University in the University Athletic Association (UAA) opener for both teams. The Judges fall to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the UAA, while the Violets improve to 11-1, 1-0 UAA.
Brandeis took a 36-34 lead at halftime thanks to their hot shooting from beyond the arc. Senior guard Derek Retos (No. Attleboro, Mass./No. Attleboro) led the way, connecting on 5-of-6 from downtown for a team-high 15 points. Three of his five trifectas came in the final four minutes as the Judges closed the half on a 9-2 run to erase five-point deficit. With his five 3-pointers, Retos moved into third place on the Judges' career list with 188, surpassing Kevin Olson '09. He is now 12 shy of becoming the third player in school history with 200 3-pointers and 21 short of the school record 209 held by Steve Harrington '92. Retos has averaged five trifectas per game in 2014 after struggling through a five-game stretch when he dealt with an illness.
The Judges also had eight first-half points from senior Ben Bartoldus (Hillsborough, N.H./Proctor Acad.), who hit two 3-pointers of his own. Brandeis hit 13-of-27 (48%) from the floor and 8-of-13 (62%) from 3-point range in the first. NYU stayed close thanks to nine points from guard Ryan Tana and eight from forward Evan Kupferberg. The Violets also outrebounded the Judges by a 19-10 margin.
Brandeis maintained and expanded their lead for the first 8:04 of the second half. After Alex Stoyle (Goffstown, N.H./Tilton Acad.) connected from long range and classmate Youri Dascy (Fall River, Mass./St. Andrews School, R.I.) hit a free throw, the Judge led by eight, 52-44, with 11:56 remaining in the game. The hosts responded by scoring the game's next seven points, starting with a 3-pointer by Iyoha Agho. A Kupferberg lay-up cut the NYU deficit to one, 52-51, at 10:19, but Brandeis's Gabriel Moton (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg) hit a pair of foul shots to stretch it back to three.
Agho got the Violets back within one from the line, and after five straight empty possessions, a Kupferberg offensive rebound at the 6:39 mark put NYU back ahead for the first time since the first half. Brandeis answered with an Ishmael Kalilou (Windsor, Conn./Taft School) lay-up, but the hosts scored the game's next five points, an Alec Papesch lay-up and a Max Ralby 3-pointer that made it a four-point game, 60-56, at the 4:50 mark that gave NYU the lead for good. Kalilou's bucket proved to be the last field goal of the game for the Judges, who hit just two free throws down the stretch, missing their final eight shots in the 64-58 defeat. NYU had 10 points from Kupferberg and eight from Agho in the final 20 minutes, while holding Retos scoreless on four shots (three from downtown). Bartoldus was the only Brandeis player to hit more than one bucket as the Judges connected on just 6-of-24 (25%) and 2-for-9 (22%) from deep in the second after their hot first half.
For the game, Kupferberg led all scorers with 18 points and also had a game-high eight rebounds for NYU. Retos finished with 15, all of which came in the first half. Bartoldus (14 points) and Moton (10 points) also reached double figures for the Judges, while Agho and Costis Gontikas also had 10 points for the home team. Kalilou led Brandeis with six rebounds, while Moton had five assists and three steals to lead all players. NYU owned a 41-28 rebounding edge and outshot Brandeis, 44 percent to 37 percent for the game.
Both teams head to the Midwest for their next UAA contests, with Brandeis at Washington University in St. Louis next Friday night at 8 Central/9 Eastern, while NYU is at Chicago at the same time.