Men's hoops wins Bain's debut, 63-56, over UMass Dartmouth

Jean Bain coaching in a huddle.
Coach Jean Bain (photo by Hannah Mui '20)

WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa. / Lower Merion) registered his first collegiate double-double to lead the Brandeis University men's basketball team past visiting UMass Dartmouth, 63-56, in the season opener for both teams. The win is the first in the head coaching career of Brandeis's Jean Bain as the Judges improve to 1-0, while the Corsairs fall to 0-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Judges led for nearly the entire game after scoring the first seven points on a Sherman 3-pointer, a dunk by sophomore Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy) and a lay-up by sophomore Akim Sanni (Cotonou, Benin/Tabor Academy).
  • The Judges extended the lead to 13 points at 17-4, though UMass Dartmouth clawed its way within six by halftime at 37-31. The Judges shot 50 percent from the field (17-34), while UMD hit 46.7 percent (14-30).
  • The teams came out cold in the second half, going nearly four minutes until Brandeis sophomore Lawrence Sabir (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Academy) hit a fast-break lay-up to make it 39-31.
  • UMass Dartmouth answered with the next six points of the game to close within three at 39-36 on a Marquis Jones free throw at the 14:53 mark.
  • Brandeis kept the Corsairs at bay, but the visitors chipped away at the lead, finally going ahead for the first time on a second-chance bucket by Marcus Azor that made it 54-53 in favor of UMD with 2:52 to go.
  • The Judges responded with the next six points of the game. After a Sabir steal and a miss by Latye Workman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bedford Academy), the graduate student got his own rebound. The Judges worked the ball around the perimeter until Jones knocked down a corner 3-pointer to put Brandeis back ahead, 56-54.
  • The Judges forced another turnover, this time with junior Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) getting a steal and lay-up while drawing the foul. He hit the ensuing free thrown to make it a five-point game at 59-54 with 1:31 to go, and the Judges hit their final foul shots to ice the contest.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • Sherman finished with a team-high 15 points and a career-best 10 rebounds on the day. He also tied his career-best with five assists. Thirteen of his 15 points came in the first half.
  • Jones finished 13 points on 5-of-8 from the field, including the huge 3-pointer, and 2-of-2 from the line. He also had four rebounds and four assists.
  • Workman added five rebounds, while Sabir matched Sherman with five assists. Both players also had three steals in the contest.
  • Azor led UMass Dartmouth in scoring with a game-high 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench. He was 7-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line.
  • The Corsairs' Arinza Obiora matched Sherman's double-double performance with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
  • Brandeis won the turnover battle, 24-18, and converted those miscues into 20 points, compared to 15 for UMD. The Judges also held the visitors to just 1-of-14 3-point shooting.

UP NEXT

  • The Judges return to action on Wednesday evening for a non-conference tilt against Suffolk University at 7 p.m.
  • UMass Dartmouth plays host to Salem State University Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in their home opener.