WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team owned a seven-point lead with just under five minutes to go, but the visiting University of Rochester Yellowjackets finished the contest on a 13-1 run to take a 55-50 University Athletic Association victory today in Red Auerbach Arena. With the loss, the Judges fall to 9-6 on the season, 2-4 UAA, while UR improves to 13-6, 5-4 UAA.

The contest featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes. The game was tied at 42-all with 7:39 on the clock. Brandeis scored the game's next seven points, with two Tommy Eastman (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) lay-ups sandwiching a Collin Sawyer (New London, Conn./New London) 3-pointer. Eastman's bucket with 4:47 left made it 49-42, Brandeis, the largest lead of the game for either team. Unfortunately, the Judges would score just one more point the rest of the way.

Rochester started their comeback with two Matt Wiele free throws, then cut the deficit to two on Trent Noordsij's 3-pointer with 2:22 on the clock. After Brandeis was forced to take a wild trifecta with the shotclock winding down, UR blocked the shot and Wiele tied the game with a fast-break dunk with 1:42 to go. After a Brandeis timeout, Rochester's Ross Gang made a steal and lay-up, getting fouled in the process, to put the visitors ahead, 52-49, with 1:18 left. Brandeis missed a pair of free throws on the other end, and UR's Dan Masino made them pay with a jumper as the shot clock ran down and just 36 seconds left in regulation, as the Yellowjackets were able to close out the game.

Brandeis was paced by Eastman, who hit 7-of-14 from the field, but was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range. He also led the Judges with seven rebounds. Senior Nolan Hagerty (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth) had  12 points, while Sawyer added 11. Eastman, Hagerty and senior Sam Nassar (Milford, Conn. / Jonathan Law) tied for the team lead with two assists each, while Eastman also had three steals and sophomore Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn. / Old Lyme) had four thefts.

Rochester was led by Noordsij's 15 points on 6-of-10 overall and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Brian Amabilino Perez and Wiele each had 11 points. Wiele's 11 outscored the Brandeis reserves by six points on his own. CJ Amsellem had five rebounds in reserve to top UR. Masino added four assists and four steals.

Brandeis steps out of conference for their next home game, Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. against Connecticut College.