WALTHAM, Mass. – In their final non-league game of the season, the Brandeis University men's basketball team suffered a 102-82 defeat at the hands of visiting Amherst College tonight in Red Auerbach Arena. The Judges fall to 4-8 on the season, while the Mammoths improve to 8-4.
The Judges took a couple of very early leads on their first two buckets by senior Latye Workman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bedford Academy). A 3-pointer by sophomore Eric D'Aguanno (Jamestown. R.I/St. Andrews School) with just under five minutes elapsed put Brandeis ahead, 13-11, but Mammoth rookie Garrett Day responded from beyond the arc and Amherst never trailed again. The trifecta sparked a 15-2 run that included two more Day 3-pointers, the last of which put the visitors ahead, 26-15, with 10:44 on the clock, and they remained in control the rest of the way. Amherst led 55-40 at halftime and were up by as many as 29 points in the second half.
For the Judges, junior Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) scored a team- and career-high 19 points in just 21 minutes of action off the bench. Sherman hit 6-of-8 overall, including 4-of-4 from downtown, and 3-of-3 from the line. Workman added 17 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line and grabbed five rebounds. Rookie Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy) and sophomore Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) each scored 11 points, with Jones grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Jones also had a career-high four assists, one behind rookie guard Lawrence Sabir (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Academy) for team-high honors.
Click for highlights from tonight's game.
Amherst was paced by senior guard Johnny McCarthy, who scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 overall, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-of-3 from the line. Classmate Michael Riopel added 19 points and seven rebounds, while Day finished with 18 points and a game-high eight assists. Rookie Fru Che (14 points) and sophomore Josh Chery (12 points) also reached double-digits in scoring for the Mammoths. Junior C.J. Bachman led all players with nine rebounds off the bench.
Amherst outshot Brandeis for the game, 53.7% (36-67) to 44.3% (27-61), and controlled the boards, 40-27. Both teams shot well from the line, as Amherst connected on 16-of-17 (94.1%), while Brandeis hit 18-of-24 (75%). Brandeis won the turnover battle, 15-13, with a 15-14 edge in points off those miscues.
Brandeis returns to University Athletic Association action on Friday evening as they kick off the trip to the Midwest when they meet Washington University in St. Louis at 9 p.m. (8 Central).