BABSON PARK, Mass. (courtesy Babson College)—Senior Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) poured in a game-high 25 points and visiting Brandeis University limited Babson College to just 30.8 percent shooting on its way to a 74-49 victory in the New England Big 4 Challenge championship game on Sunday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, drops to 5-3 overall. Brandeis, which captured its record fourth Big 4 Challenge title and first since 2012, improves to 5-1 with its fourth consecutive win.
Sherman, who was selected as the tournament most outstanding player, finished 8-of-13 from the floor and added six rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Judges. Sophomore Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy) was named to the all-tournament team after contributing 18 points and six boards, while junior Eric D'Aguanno (Saunderstown, R.I./St. James School) went 4-of-6 from deep and added 12 points in the win.
Junior Frank Oftring (North Attleboro, Mass.) was named to the all-tournament team after leading the Beavers with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. First-year Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) scored all 11 of his points in the second half, while sophomore Graham Dolan (Williamsville, N.Y.) chipped in with nine points and a pair of blocked shots in the loss.
Sherman scored seven early points as Brandeis opened the game with an 11-2 run over the first four and a half minutes. The Green and White got as close as three thanks to back-to-back triples by Oftring and Dolan, but the Judges responded with a 16-3 spurt over the next six-plus minutes to push its advantage to 27-11 at the 6:58 mark.
The Beavers shot just 31.8 percent while committing 10 turnovers in the opening stanza, and Sherman scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting to help Brandeis take a 34-19 edge into the break.
Sophomore Matt Pattyson (Piperville, Pa.) drilled a three-pointer and Bradanese finished inside to pull Babson within 40-29 just over six minutes into the second half. The momentum was short-lived however as Sherman followed with six straight points to push the margin back to 17 less than a minute later.
The Beavers cut their deficit to 13 twice over the final nine minutes, the last coming on a Bradanese layup with 6:24 to play. D'Aguanno buried a three-pointer and Jones and Sherman added triples of their own as part of an 11-2 run that gave Brandeis a commanding 70-48 lead with 3:37 remaining.
The Judges shot 47.3 percent for the game, finished with a 35-34 edge on the glass and outscored the Green and White 32-16 in the paint.
Both teams return to action on Thursday at 7 p.m., as Babson travels to Amherst, while Brandeis visits Becker
GAME NOTES
· Brandeis improved to 23-21 all time against Babson, including a 3-3 record in six Big 4 Challenge meetings.
· Prior to Sunday, Babson had scored at least 60 points in 95 straight games since suffering a 68-48 loss to Augustana (Ill.) in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament back in 2015.
· Sunday's loss also marked the first time in 46 games that the Beavers shot below 40 percent from the field.
· Sean Bryan of Salem State and Brennan Morris of Tufts joined Sherman, Jones and Oftring on the 2018 New England Challenge Big 4 All-Tournament team.