WALTHAM, Mass. – Visiting Case Western Reserve University led from start to finish today as the Spartans defeated the Brandeis University Judges, 71-55, in Red Auerbach Arena in a game that was delayed by a day due to snow. With the loss, the Judges fall to 8-14 overall, 3-8 in the University Athletic Association. Case improves to 15-7, 6-5 UAA.

      Case hit their first three buckets to open up a 7-0 lead and never trailed again. The Spartans shot 62.5% (15-24) from the field in the first half, while Brandeis was at 29.6% (8-27). The visitors led by as many as 16 points before taking a 37-23 lead into halftime.

The Judges scored the first bucket of the second half to get within 12, 37-25, but Case scored the next three hoops to extend their lead to 43-25 with 2:40 gone. A traditional three-point play by Eric Black at the 11:30 mark gave CWRU their largest lead of the contest, 56-35. Brandeis answered with a 9-0 run of their own, getting back within 12 on two Carlin Haymon (Boston, Mass./Rivers School) free throws, but Case's Julien Person stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer. The Judges scored the next four points to get within 11, 59-48, with 7:14 remaining, but that was as close as the score would be the rest of the way.

Brandeis was paced by rookie Jordan Cooper (Weston, Fla./Sagemont School), who scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, tied for game-high honors. He also had three steals. Sophomore Robinson Vilmont (Cambridge, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson) and rookie Nate Meehan (Lowell, Mass./Phillips Andover) each scored nine. Sophomore Tim Reale (Mason, Ohio/St. Andrews, R.I., School) added eight points and seven rebounds. Grad student Connor Arnold (Andover, Mass./Deerfield Acad.), playing in his final home game, tallied a game-high seven assists. Brandeis had 14 assists on their 18 buckets.

Case put four players in double figures, led by Connor Edel with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the line. He also matched Cooper and Reale for game-high with seven rebounds. Dane McLaughlin added 14 points for the visitors, while Brian Klements and Eric Black each had 11. Jimmy Holman tied Arnold for game-high honors with seven assists, while Person had six helpers. The Spartans had 22 assists on their 29 baskets and shot 52.7% for the game (29-54). They also won the battle of the boards, 36-28.

Brandeis is back in action next Friday 9 p.m. Eastern/8 Central when they travel to the University of Chicago.

- 30 -