WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University graduate Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) led the 25^th-ranked Judges to a come-from-behind victory tonight, scoring the 1,000^th point of his career in the process in a 76-68 victory over previously unbeaten UMass Dartmouth. With the win, the Judges improve to 2-1 on the season, while the Corsairs fall to 6-1.

Sawyer scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, hitting a 3-pointer with 8:33 to go in regulation that gave the Judges the lead for good at 51-50. He hit another trifecta with 4:43 on the clock that put him over the 1,000-point plateau. He is the 34^th player in Brandeis history to reach the mark and the first since former teammate Eric D'Aguanno  '20 did so in his senior campaign. After scoring just five points on 2-of-8 shooting in the first half, Sawyer hit 7-of-9 overall in the second, including both of his 3-pointers, and 3-of-4 from the line. He finished three points shy of a career-best and ended the game with 1,004 career points.

Senior center Nolan Hagerty (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth) notched his fifth career double-double in the effort, finishing with 18 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, one shy a career-best. Hagerty was also a force on the defensive end, posting career-highs with four blocked shots and three steals. Eight of his 13 boards came on the offensive glass, where Brandeis owned a 20-13 edge. The Judges won the overall battle of the boards, 48-36, including 26-14 in the second half. Junior Dylan Lien (Northborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) made his first start of the season and finished with 13 points and three assists, while graduate student Tommy Eastman (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) added 12 points and eight boards in his first game off the bench. Eastman and junior Darrett Justice (Haymarket, Va. / Highland School) each had four assists to lead the Judges.

UMass Dartmouth put three scorers in double figures, led by senior Marcus Azor. Azor finished just shy of a triple-double, scoring 15 points – 10 in the second half – to go with a team-high nine rebounds and game-high nine assists. He also blocked two shots for the Corsairs. Adam Seablom led the visitors in scoring with 17 points and grabbed six caroms to go with three steals, while Sean Leahy had 11 points.

UMass Dartmouth got off to a fast start, with Azor and Seablom accounting for nine points in an 11-2 run to open the game. After Brandeis called a timeout with 16:16 on the clock, Sawyer scored the game's next five points, sparking a 19-6 run that put them on top on Hagerty's lay-up after a nice spin move. A Chandler Jones (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Free Academy) made it 21-17, Judges, with 7:53 to go. UMass Dartmouth finished the half strong, outscoring Brandeis  16-5 the rest of the way, with seven different Corsairs contributing as they took a 33-26 lead into the locker room.

The visitors scored seven of the first 10 points of the second half, taking their largest lead of the game on a Jake Ashworth 3-pointer with two minutes elapsed that made it 40-29. The Judges cut the deficit to four points in the early going, but they were still down seven after a Seablom trifecta with 10:09 to go made it 50-43.

At that point, the Judges made the decisive run, scoring 14 unanswered points over the next four minutes. Hagerty had the first five points of the run, with Sawyer scoring the next seven, including the go-ahead bucket. Lien capped the run on a steal and assist from Eastman that made it 57-50 with 6:17 to go. UMD called timeout to halt the momentum and did so by scoring the next five points to get back within two. A Hagerty hoop on a feed from Justice and Sawyer's milestone trifecta answered right back. Though the Judges would lead by 11 with just under three minutes to go, UMass Dartmouth clawed back within four thanks to pressure defense. Brandeis got another Sawyer jumper with 1:12 on the clock and Lien hit all six of his free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

The Judges return to action after Thanksgiving on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to meet UMass Boston as part of the Black Coaches Classic. Tufts meets Nichols in the opening game of that event at 5:30 p.m.