WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University and Lasell
College men's basketball teams will face off tomorrow in the title
game of the Brandeis University Tip-Off tournament after both won
semifinal contests. The Judges defeated Newbury College, 80-57, in
today's opener, while Lasell held off numerous late runs to defeat
Roger William University, 68-60.
Brandeis opened its season with a win by outscoring the Nighthawks,
16-2, over the first eight minutes of the contest. The Judges
forced six turnovers and Newbury missed seven of eight shots in
that span. Meanwhile, Brandeis grabbed four offensive rebounds in
the stretch and scored off of three of them, with sophomore Rocco
Toppi (Portland, Maine) connecting for eight points in the early
run. The Judges pushed the lead to as many as 21, which was the
margin at the intermission, 48-27. It got up to 31 early in the
second, as the Judges were never threatened.
Four Brandeis players reached double figures, led by sophomore
Steve DeLuca (Merrimack, N.H.), who had team-highs with 15 points
and nine rebounds. Rookie Huston Conti (Edmonds, Wash.) came of the
bench for 12 points in his first collegiate game, while Toppi and
sophomore guard Florian Rexhepi (Skopje, Macedonia) each
contributed 10 points. Rexhepi also led all players with six
assists. The Judges connected for 15 3-pointers in the game,
hitting 48.4 percent from beyond the arc (15-31). Seven different
Brandeis players hit more than one trifecta. They had 20 assists on
28 baskets and blocked seven shots to none for the Nighthawks.
Newbury sophomore Walky Magloire (Waltham, Mass.) led all scorers
with 19 points, hitting seven-of-17 from the floor and
five-of-eight from the line, while classmate Arch Mitchell
(Framingham, Mass.) added 17. Mitchell hit seven-of-19, including
the Nighthawks' only two trifectas of the night as Newbury was
outscored 15-2 from beyond the arc. Senior forward Matthew Stanton
(Lynnfield, Mass.) led all players with 10 rebounds.
Brandeis men drop Newbury in season opener, 80-57
Posted: Nov 19, 2005