WALTHAM, Mass. - Senior guard Michael Divins (Trafford, Pa.) scored 22 points today, including the 1000th of his career, to lead the visiting Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team to an 86-69 victory over the host Brandeis University Judges in a University Athletic Association (UUA) contest in Auerbach Arena.
Carnegie Mellon (10-2, 3-0 UAA) stayed unbeaten in the conference thanks to a pair of big performances from Divens and junior forward Nate Maurer (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Maurer had a game-high 29 points on 11-of-22 from the floor and six-of-six from the line. He was one rebound shy of a double-double and added five assists and two steals. Divens had 22 points, with his 1,000th coming on a jumper midway through the second half. Senior guard Elliot Goren (Silver Spring, Md.) also scored in double figures with 11 points. He and senior Jason Walters (Providence, R.I.) tied for game-high honors with six assists.
Brandeis (6-5, 0-2 UAA) fell despite placing four players in double figures. Senior center Bryan Lambert (Auburn, Maine) had 18 points on seven-of-11 shooting, while also leading the Judges with eight rebounds. Rookie guard Florian Rexhepi (Skopte, Macedonia) added 17 points in his first career start, with 15 coming in the second half. Classmate Steve DeLuca (Merrimack, N.H.) added 16 points, four assists and a team-high four steals, while classmate Steven Hill (Brighton, Mass.) came off the bench for a career-best 10 points. Rookie guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham (Amherst, Mass.) had six assists to lead the Judges.
The Judges had their coldest shooting half of the season in the first, hitting just eight-of-31 from the floor (25.8 percent), including missing all 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the visiting Tartans came out on fire, hitting 17-of-32 (53.1 percent). Brandeis' biggest lead came at the 14:10 mark, when Lambert's traditional three-point play gave them a 10-6 lead. CMU then outscored the Judges 38-10 the rest of the way in the first half behind their hot-shooting performance. Brandeis closed to with 14 points early in the second, but the Judges were unable to get any closer.
Brandeis next faces Tufts University at home on Wednesday in a non-conference match-up at 7:00 p.m.