WATERVILLE, Maine – The Brandeis University men's basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season this afternoon with a 68-58 win over Bates College on the second day of action at the UAA-NESCAC Challenge at Colby.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 7-1.
• Bates, 3-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges scored the game's first seven points and eventually raced out to a 24-8 lead midway through the first half.
• The Bobcats clawed their way back into the contest, closing the stanza on a 21-10 run – including the last eight points of the half - to get within 34-29 at halftime.
• A couple of early Brandeis 3-pointers kept Bates at bay early in the second, but another 8-0 string tied things up at 43-all with 13:31 remaining.
• The Bobcats took their first lead of the contest on a pair of Jahmir Primer free throws that made it 49-48 with 8:46 to go, but Brandeis rookie guard Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Acad.) answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession to put the lead back in the Judges' hands.
• That trifecta sparked a 13-2 run that pushed the lead back 10 points, as Edwards scored seven in the run with four from sophomore Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham Academy). Up 61-61 with 3:26 to go, the Judges were able trade baskets with Bates and never relinquish the lead.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Harris led the Judges with his third career double-double, netting 24 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
• He hit 9-of-17 from the field, 4-of-9 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 from the line. He had 13 points in the first half and 11 in the second.
• Edwards also reached 20 points on the day, the second time this season he surpassed the plateau. Fifteen of his 20 came in the second half.
• Edwards also tied a career-high with five assists to lead all players and notched four steals.
• First-year forward Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Acad.) added 13 points and six rebounds. He finished three points shy of a career-best.
• Bates got 18 points from Primer and 13 from Steph Baxter.
• Stephen Ward led the Bobcats with seven rebounds, while Baxter had four assists and Brady Coyne had four steals.
• Brandeis had a 35-31 edge on the boards and won the turnover battle, 19-17, though the Bobcats had 21-15 advantage in points off miscues.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Harris has scored 20 or more points in seven of the Judges' eight games this season. No Brandeis player has averaged more than 20 ppg since Bryan Lambert '05 in 2004.
• The UAA finished 4-0 in today's games to wind up 6-2 in the UAA-NESCAC Challenge.
• Brandeis has won 11 of its last 12 games dating back to last season.

UP NEXT

• The Judges close out the fall 2022 semester on Thursday with a non-conference tilt against Babson at 7 p.m.
• Bates is at Bowdoin on Friday at 7 p.m.