WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team closed out their 2015-16 season with a 71-50 defeat at the hands of rival New York University today in a University Athletic Association regular-season contest. The Judges end the season at 9-15, 3-11 in the UAA. The Violets improve to 20-5, 9-5 UAA and await a possible NCAA tournament berth.
The visiting Violets never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 9-2 lead after six minutes. NYU continued their roll and led 29-8 with 5:23 to go in the first half. Brandeis scored the last 10 points of the stanza to close within 11, 29-18, at the break.
Brandeis scored the first point of the second half on a free throw, but NYU's Ross Udine connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 16 points. Brandeis would get within 12 twice in the second half, but it wasn't enough, as the visitors led by as many as 26 points late in the contest before the final 71-50 score.
The Judges got 15 points from sophomore forward Jordan Cooper (Weston, Fla./Sagemont School). Cooper hit 7-of-17 from the floor with a 3-pointer. Cooper also led the Judges with six rebounds. Junior Tim Reale (Mason, Ohio/St. Andrew's School, R.I.) also reached double figures in scoring, hitting 5-of-6 from the field with a 3-pointer to finish with 11 points.
Brandeis senior Colby Smith (No. Andover, Mass./No. Andover), who was honored before his final collegiate game, scored four points and had three rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot and a steal.
NYU was paced by senior Evan Kupferberg, who just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds, both game-highs. Udine finished with 15 points, all coming on 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Costis Gontikas aadded 14 points, while Tony Bai had 10 off the bench for the Violets. Max Ralby added a game-high four assists for the visitors.
NYU shot 60 percent from the field for the game (27-45), including 67 percent in the second half (16-24). The visitors also connected on 57 percent on 3-pointers (8-14), making 2-of-4 in the first half and 6-of-10 in the second. The Violets also owned a 32-20 rebounding edge.
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