WATERVILLE, Maine – The Brandeis University men's basketball team got off to a cold start today, falling behind 16-0 in a 66-52 loss at the hands of host Colby College in a battle of unbeaten teams on the first day of the UAA-NESCAC Challenge in Waterville, Maine.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 6-1.
• Colby, 7-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges missed their first 10 shots, while the Mules hit seven of their first nine in racing out the big lead.
• Brandeis got on the board with a lay-up from rookie Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Academy) just under five minutes into the game.
• The Judges basically played Colby even from there for the rest of the game.
• The Mules' largest lead was 19 on a 3-pointer with 3:35 to go in the first half. but the Judges scored five of the last seven points of the stanza to climb back within 37-21 at the break.
• Colby would go up by 19 again early in the second half, but Brandeis clawed back into the contest.
• Brandeis got within 11 points on a Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham Acad.) layup that made it 45-34 with 11:00 to go, but Colby answered with a 3-pointer by Alec McGovern to halt the momentum.
• Colby extended the lead to 18 once again before Brandeis made a rally to close within 10 on a Dylan Lien (Northborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) lay-up with 2:37 left, but it was too little, too late.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Harris was the team's leading scorer for the sixth time in seven games this season, tallying 19 points, 12 coming in the second half. He hit 7-of-14 from the field, 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the line.
• Harris had scored 20 or more points in the team's first six contests.
• Zene led the Judges with six rebounds, while first-year Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Woodstock Acad.) had two assists and five steals.
• The Mules were paced by 13 points off the bench from Lucas Green. Will King had 12 points and Noah Tyson added 10 for the Colby starters.
• Jonah Obi led all players with 10 rebounds as the Mules owned a commanding 41-21 edge on the boards, including 8-3 on the offensive glass.
• King also had a game-high six assists.
• Brandeis won the turnover battle, 17-8, turning those miscues into 18 points, with Colby tallying just six.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Brandeis saw its best start since 2010 halted, a well as a 10-game winning streak that dated back to last season.
• The Mules held Brandeis 30 points below their season scoring average and held them to their lowest shooting percentage (32.2%) and 3-point percentage (22.2%) of the season.
• After having at least three double-digit scorers in the previous three contests, Harris was the only one today.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis will meet Bates College tomorrow at 2 p.m., while Colby will face Emory at 12 noon.
• The Eagles defeated the Bobcats today, 86-52, in the second game of the UAA-NESCAC Challenge.