Men edged by NYU, 53-51, in regular-season finale

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team never led today in a 53-51 loss at rival NYU, though the Judges just missed a chance to tie the game on their final possession. With the loss, Brandeis ends its regular season with a 14-11 record, 7-7 in the University Athletic Association. NYU winds up at 8-15, 2-12 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• NYU scored the first six points of the game and never let the Judges get back in it with tough defense. Though the Judges never saw their deficit climb above 10 points, they were never able to get over the hump either.
• A late 3-pointer to end the first half by junior Eric D'Aguanno (Saunderstown, R.I./St. Andrews School) made it 28-24 in favor of the Violets. Brandeis shot just 27.6% from the field in the first (8-29), but NYU wasn't that much better at 34.4% (11-32).
• In the second half, the lead bounced between four and eight points for much of the stanza.
• NYU looked to put things away when a Jordan Harris lay-up made it 50-42 with 3:39 left in the game.
• The Judges scored the next five points of the game on a 3-pointer by junior Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) and a contested jumper by sophomore Lawrence Sabir (Providence, R.I./LaSalle Academy), the latter coming with 1:32 left.
• Brandeis got the ball back after NYU missed a free throw, but couldn't take advantage. Sophomore Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Commonwealth Academy) hit 1-of-2 from the line with 27 seconds left to get the Judges within two points.
• NYU responded with two foul shots to make it a two-possession game, but D'Aguanno hit an off-balance 3-pointer with 16 seconds to go that got Brandeis within 52-51.
• The Violets' Jimmy Martinelli had a chance to push their lead back to three from the line, but again hit 1-of-2. Brandeis came down and ran a play to get Jones open in the paint, but his shot was just to the left and rolled along the rim before going out as NYU escaped with the 53-51 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Sawyer led the Judges with 16 points, hitting 6-of-10 overall, 3-of-7 from deep and 1-of-1 from the line.
• D'Aguanno added nine points off the bench, hitting 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
• Sabir had a fine all-around performance with eight points, a team-high nine rebounds and four assists.
• NYU was paced by Dom Cristiano, who had 15 points and nine rebounds.
• Senior Jule Brown had 10 points in his final game for the Violets.
• Bobby Hawkinson had a game-high 10 rebounds.
• The hosts finished with an edge in shooting, 38.9% to 31.7%, and in rebounding, 41-38.
• That offset Brandeis's 12-10 turnover advantage.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will learn the postseason fate on Monday when they hope to earn an ECAC Tournament berth.