Men's basketball off to best start since '15-'16 with 78-65 win over Lasell

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team scored 15 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from local rivals Lasell College, 78-65, in non-conference action tonight in Red Auerbach Arena. With the win, the Judges improve to 3-1 for the first time since the 2015-16 season. The Lasers fall to 1-4 on the campaign.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lasell opened the game quickly, jumping out to an 8-2 start, and an 18-11 advantage after the Judges had tied the game at 11-all.
• Brandeis still trailed, 25-21, after Lasell's Stefan Masciarelli hit a lay-up with 7:13 on the clock. From that point, the Judges closed the stanza on a 17-7 run, with nine of the points coming from senior Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) to take a 38-32 lead into the locker room.
• Lasell climbed back into the game, scoring nine of the first 12 points of the second half, tying the game at 41-41 on a Vic Collazo lay-up.
• Liam Jacobs hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to put the visitors ahead, 44-41, and he converted a traditional three-point play at the 13:27 mark to make it 49-46 in favor of Lasell
• At that point, the Judges caught fire and put the game away, scoring 15 unanswered points over the next four minutes.
• Junior Eric D'Aguanno (Saunderstown, R.I./St. Andrews School) started the run with a lay-up and capped it with a corner 3-pointer that made the score 61-48. Four different teammates scoring during the string.
• Brandeis pushed the lead as large as 17 points on a D'Aguanno trifecta with 6:05 remaining to make it 69-52 before hanging on for the 13-point win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The duo of Sherman and D'Aguanno led the Judges with a combined 48 points and nine 3-pointers.
• Sherman finished with a career-high 26 points on 7-of-11 overall, 3-of-4 from downtown and 9-of-10 from the line.
• Fourteen of his 26 came in the first half, when Sherman did not miss a shot – he was 4-of-4 from the field, 2-of-2 from deep, and 4-of-4 from the line.
• D'Aguanno netted 22 off the bench, hitting 8-of-12 overall and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc, finishing two points shy of a career-best. It was his fifth career game with six or more 3-pointers.
• Sophomore Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy) also reached double-digits in scoring with 12 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists.
• Grad student Latye Workman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bedford Academy) had a terrific all-around night. In addition to seven points, he led Brandeis with 10 rebounds – six on the offensive glass. It was his second-straight game reaching double-figure rebounds.
• Workman tied for game-high with four assists, and also had a game-high four steals.
• Rookie Sam Nassar (Milford, Conn. / Jonathan Law) tied for game-high honors with four assists.
• Despite getting outshot from the field, 41.9% to 40.4%, Brandeis hit 12 3-pointers to seven for Lasell, while also outscoring the visitors, 20-6, from the free-throw line. Brandeis won the turnover battle, 16-10, and converted that into an 18-10 edge in points off those miscues.
• Lasell's Masciarelli led the visitors with 25 points, hitting 10-of-26 from the floor with a 3-pointer, and 4-of-4 from the line. He also reached the four-assist mark.
• Vic Collazo added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Jacobs led all players with 11 rebounds.

UP NEXT

• After nearly two weeks off, Brandeis will take on two of their rivals in the New England Big Four Challenge. They open the tournament against Salem State on Saturday, December 1 at 5 p.m., at Babson, with a showdown against Tufts or Babson the next day.
• Lasell is off until after Thanksgiving as well, with a home game against Husson on November 26 at 5:30 p.m.