WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team has placed two on the D3hoops.com All-Northeast Region team. Senior guard Collin Sawyer of New London, Connecticut, was a third-team All-Region honoree, while junior forward Chandler Jones of Springfield, Massachusetts, was named to the fourth team. Both were previously selected first-team All-University Athletic Association.
Sawyer led the Judges in scoring, finishing fourth in the UAA at 15.6 points per game, a career-high. He also led the team and finished fifth in the conference with 57 3-pointers, while placing fifth in 3-point percentage (44.2%, 57-129) and sixth in free-throw percentage (80.7%, 71-88). Sawyer's 57 trifectas were the 14th-most in program history. He led Brandeis in scoring 14 times, scoring 20 or more points eight times. His career-best 27-points in the Judges' double-OT win over Chicago on February 23 was the team's high scoring performance this year. Sawyer hit a 3-pointer in all but three games this season, including 12 with three or more trifectas. He also finished with a career-best 2.7 rebounds per game. Sawyer will remain with the Judges next year as a graduate student after earning a medical hardship waiver. He will enter the 2020-21 season with 959 career points and 168 3-pointers, seventh on the Judges' career list.
Jones was the Judges' second-leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game, while leading the squad in rebounding (7.5 rpg), steals (24) and blocked shots (23). He tied for second on the squad in assists (2.9 apg). Jones finished sixth in the league in rebounding average, sixth n total assists and fourth in total blocked shots. He led the Judges in scoring eight times, including three times in UAA play and in rebounding 13 times, nine in conference play. Jones recorded double figures in scoring 16 times, including five 20-point games, highlighted by a career-best 26 in a December 8 non-conference game against Salem State, in which he also had a career-high seven assists. He also had seven double-digit rebounding games, accounting for six double-doubles. Jones pulled down a career-best 17 boards on November 13 against Rivier College. His top performances in UAA games were a 21-point, 10-rebound game against Chicago on February 23, a double-overtime win, and a 17-point, 14-rebound game against Carnegie Mellon on February 9. Jones will enter the 2020-21 season with 935 career points and 493 rebounds.
Sawyer and Jones are the first Brandeis men's basketball players honored by D3hoops.com since 2015, when Jordan Cooper '18 was the regional Rookie of the Year. They are the first players since Gabriel Moton '14 to make it to an All-Region team in 2013.
In head coach Jean Bain's second season, the Judges finished the regular campaign with a 17-8 record, their best since 2012-13, and went 9-5 to finish third in the UAA, their highest finish since 2010. This marks the first time since 2010 that Brandeis has placed two players on the All-UAA first team. All but one regular will return to next year's squad, as 1,000-point scorer and all-time 3-point leader Eric D'Aguanno of Saunderstown, Rhode Island, will graduate.
Sawyer is a 2016 graduate of New London High School.
Jones is a 2017 graduate of Springfield Commonwealth Academy.
For more information on Brandeis men's basketball, visit the team's web page at http://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/mbkb.