MILTON, Mass. -- The Brandeis University men's basketball team never trailed today as the Judges rolled over host Curry College, 75-46, to get to the .500 mark for the first time this season at 5-5. The Colonels fell to 2-8 with the loss.
Brandeis was led by sophomore center John Powell (Ashland, Mass./Brimmer and May School), who recorded his second career double-double. Powell finished with 17 points on 6-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the line, while grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds - six coming on the offensive glass. It was his top rebounding performance at Brandeis, though he had a 20-carom game as a rookie at Division II Bloomfield College. Powell had nine points and eight rebounds in the first half and reached double-double status less than two minutes into the second when he put back an offensive rebound. He also had three blocked shots in the game.
Classmate Robinson Vilmont (Cambridge, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson Acad.) also reached double figures with 15 points, hitting 5-of-8 overall, including both 3-pointers, and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Vilmont scored 10 of his 15 in the second half. He pulled down seven rebounds and had three steals in the contest. Junior guard Colby Smith (No. Andover, Mass./No. Andover) had nine points a game-high four assists, while rookie KJ Baptiste (Onset, Mass. / Brimmer and May School) had a career-high eight points with six caroms off the bench. Brandeis outshot Curry, 49 percent to 30 percent and outrebounded the Colonels by a 49-29 margin.
Curry was paced by sophomore James Pina (Warwick, R.I.), who had a game-high 18 points and led the hosts with seven rebounds. No other CC player had more than six points or five boards.
Brandeis led by as many as 19 points in the first half on a pair of Nate Meehan (Lowell, Mass./Phillips Andover) free throws with 3:05 remaining before a late Curry run got the hosts within 13 points at 34-21 at the break. The Judges opened the second half with a 19-8 streak - with 11 points coming from Powell and Vilmont - and never looked back.
Brandeis closes out its non-conference schedule on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Bates College before opening University Athletic Association play next Saturday at home at 3 p.m. against NYU. Curry is at Nichols for a CCC contest Tuesday at 7:30.