Men come out on wrong end of 53-50 defensive struggle with WashU

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team played their second-straight one-possession game, but the Judges couldn't match Friday night's magic in a 53-50 loss to Washington University in a University Athletic Association contest this afternoon in Red Auerbach Arena. With the loss, the Judges fall to 10-6, 3-2 UAA, while the Bears improve their record to the same. Both squads are part of a four-way tie for second place in the conference.

HOW IT HAPPENED - CLICK FOR VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

• Washington U. opened the game on a 7-0 run and were ahead by as many as nine points when Jack Nolan hit a lay-up just under the midway point of the first half to make it 17-8.
• Brandeis clawed back into the game, but the Judges were still behind by five at 22-17 when WashU's Justin Hardy put back a miss with 2:27 left in the first.
• At that point, Brandeis outscored the Bears, 12-2, the rest of the way. With the scored tied at 24 after two free throws by the visitors with 35 seconds left, Brandeis senior Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) hit a 3-pointer.
• WashU then committed an offensive foul with under six seconds to play, and Brandeis sophomore Lawrence Sabir (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Academy) made a driving lay-up as the buzzer sounded to give the Judges a 29-24 lead at the break.
• Judge junior Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) scored the first five points of the second half to extend the run to 17-2 and give Brandeis a 34-24 lead, the largest of the game.
• WashU got back into the game with an 11-2 run of their own over the next four minutes, as two Nolan foul shots made it 38-37 with 13:18 remaining.
• Brandeis responded with a Sabir lay-up and a fast-break dunk by grad student Latye Workman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bedford Academy) to push the lead back to five at 42-37.
• The visitors responded with the game's next seven points, reclaiming the lead at the 7:24 mark when Hank Hunter converted a traditional three-point play.
• The game was still tied at 48-all with 3:03 left in regulation when Nolan hit a 3-pointer to put the visitors ahead for good.
• Both teams had a chance to affect the lead, but the next four possession came up empty.
• Brandeis cut into the lead with 58 seconds to go on a pair of Workman free throws.
• On the next possession, the Judges played great defense, forcing a wild shot by WashU's Matt Nester, but the Bears' Hunter grabbed the offensive rebound, forcing the Judges to foul. Nolan hit both foul shots to provide the final scoring margin.
• Brandeis's last play saw Sherman get off a good 3-point attempt from the right side, but the long rebound stayed in play long enough to see time expire.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Brandeis had a balanced scoring attack, with all five starters scoring between eight and 10 points. Sawyer was the only Judges to reach double digits with 10 points, seven coming in the second half.
• Sophomore Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy), Sherman and Workman all finished with nine points, while Sabir had eight.
• Jones led the Judges with seven rebounds, while Sabir's six assists were a season-high.
• Washington was led by two players, as Nolan and Hunter accounted for 31 of their 53 points. Hunter had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Nolan finished with 14 points.
• Jonathan Arena added six points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Bears, both totals surpassing Brandeis's reserve corps.
• The Judges held WashU under 60 points for the first time this season, as the Bears entered the game averaging more than 80 points per game.
• Brandeis won the turnover battle, 15-10, and converted the miscues into 19 points, while WashU was only able to convert into 6.
• The Bears controlled the boards, however, 40-27, and had 11 second-chance points to four for Brandeis.
• The visitors also outscored Brandeis, 9-4, from the line, as the Judges only took four foul shots all game long.

UP NEXT

• The Judges close out the first half of UAA play with a road trip to Atlanta and Rochester to take on Emory on Friday evening at 8 p.m. and UR Sunday morning at 11 a.m.