NEW YORK, N.Y. – Despite putting five different players in double digits in scoring the Brandeis men's basketball team suffered a 90-82 defeat to host New York University in the University Athletic Association opener for both teams today. The Judges see a two-game winning streak snapped as they fall to 4-7 overall, 0-1 UAA. NYU improves to 7-3, 1-0 UAA.
The Judges had a balanced scoring attack, with five players putting in between 11 and 14 points. Sophomore guard Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) led the team in scoring for the second game in a row with 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers for the fourth-straight game. He was matched by rookie forward Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy), who hit 6-of-12 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers. Senior guard Latye Workman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bedford Academy) had 13 points in front of a hometown crowd, while junior Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) and sophomore Eric D'Aguanno (Saunderstown, R.I./St. Andrew's School) each had 11 points. The Judges combined for 12 3-pointers, matching a season-high.
D'Aguanno and rookie Akim Sanni (Cotonou, Benin / Tabor Academy, N.H.) each had seven rebounds to lead the Judges. Workman stuffed the stat sheet with five assists – tying a career-high – and three blocked shots to go with five rebounds, though he was held well below his season average of 10.3 boards per game. Rookie guard Lawrence Sabir (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Academy) also had five assists for the Judges.
NYU also had five players score in double digits. Forward Jimmy Martinelli netted a game-high 18 points on 6-of-11 from the field, 4-of-5 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the line. Guard Ross Udine had 16 points and tied for game-high honors with five assists, while forward Dom Cristiano recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Jule Brown added 13 points and five assists, while Bobby Hawkinson had 12 points off the bench. NYU edged Brandeis on the boards, 40-35, and in the turnover battle, 10-11. The Violets outshot Brandeis, 48 percent to 44 percent, but the hosts were able to make the most of their advantage from the free-throw line, where they outscored Brandeis by a 25-6 margin.
The game featured four ties and four lead changes, all in the first half. Brandeis had a 26-25 lead on a Sanni lay-up with 7:12 to go in the first half, but Martinelli answered with a 3-pointers and the Violets never trailed again. Brandeis was within 39-34 at halftime and closed within 41-39 on a Nate Meehan (Lowell, Mass./Phillips Andover) trifecta, but Brown and Udine answered from beyond the arc to push the lead back to eight. NYU kept Brandeis at bay by shooting 65 percent (15-23) from the field in the second half, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and hitting 18 of their 23 free throws.
Brandeis will step out of conference one last time on Monday evening at 6 p.m. when they play host to Amherst College before headed to #10 Washington University and the University of Chicago next weekend.