The men’s basketball team lost two University Athletic Association games this week in the Midwest against Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago. Early struggles and foul troubles characterized both games.
The Judges lost on Friday to seventh-ranked Wash U. The Bears led throughout most of the game, including the entire second half but the Judges outscored them by one in the latter half.
Brandeis’ final lead of the 82-72 loss came with 10:36 left in the first half, at which time they led 15-13. Wash U. reacted to this early pressure by going on a 19-1 run that left Brandeis without a field goal for nearly eight minutes. The Judges came within five points early in the second half but faced more resistance from the Bears who gained a 20-point lead before Brandeis came back within nine.
The game’s high scorer was guard Gabriel Moton ’14 who put up 18 points in the second half and 27 total throughout the game. His efficient shooting performance was done through 9-16 shooting from the floor, 4-9 from beyond the arc and 5-6 from the free-throw line. He also led the team with three steals. Moton is currently second in the UAA in scoring with an average of 17.4 points per game, behind Emory’s Jake Davis with 23.3 points per game. Forward Ishmael Kalilou ’15 led the Judges with seven rebounds off of the bench. Center Youri Dascy ’14 had six rebounds, including four on offense. The Bears had four players score in double digits led by Chris Klimek who had 25 points and seven rebounds. Allan Aboona had 17 points and Tim Cooney had 15 points and seven assists. Matt Palucki, the previous week’s UAA Athlete of the Week scored 10 points.
Six Judges had at least three fouls, which fostered the Bears’ successful night from the free-throw line, making 26 of 35 while the Judges were 11 of 15. Brandeis was not able to capitalize on offensive rebounds, converting only four second-chance points against Wash U.’s 14. The victors shot 48.1 percent overall and 42.9 percent from three-point range; Brandeis shot 43.3 percent overall and 34.6 percent from long-range, attempting 26 three pointers.
Wash U. is 12-2 overall. At 3-0 in-conference, they are the only team to be undefeated in the University Athletic Association. Despite their two wins last week, the Bears moved down one spot in the national rankings to eighth in the nation. They are on the road this week against Case Western Reserve University and Carnegie Mellon University.
Brandeis lost another tough game on Sunday afternoon at the University of Chicago, 85-75. The team was unable to make a dent in the tough Windy City team, who held a multi-possession lead through the majority of the game.
The home team came out with an early 15-8 lead, but Brandeis was able to go on a 12-4 run to lead by one, their largest lead of the afternoon. The Maroons left the half with a 39-31 advantage. Brandeis played better in the second, scoring only two points fewer than Chicago. The victor’s largest lead of the day was 18 points with 12:13 left in the game.
Eight players were able to score double-digit points, four for each team. Guard Derek Retos ’14, Kalilou, forward Alex Stoyle ’14 and Moton each scored at least 10 points. Kalilou made all of his field goal attempts in his 19 minutes off of the bench. Forward Connor Arnold ’14, guard Ben Bartoldus ’14 and Dascy’s minutes were limited as each had four personal fouls. Stoyle had five fouls. Moton led the team with seven rebounds and was six for six from the free throw line. Moton is in the top 10 in the conference in rebounding and free throw shooting. Retos and guard Robinson Vilmont ’17 each had three assists.
The Maroons’ Royce Muskeyvalley led the game with 18 points. Jordan Smith, Wayne Simon and Alex Voss also scored in double-digits. Voss had six rebounds and Nate Brooks led the game with eight.
13 players took the floor for Brandeis as foul trouble plagued them throughout. Brandeis shot 72.2 percent from the free throw line as Chicago shot only 60 percent. The Maroons shot less efficiently from the free throw line but had many more opportunities, making 24-40, while the Judges had only 18 foul shot attempts. Both teams shot well from the field, Brandeis making 50 percent and Chicago making 52.8 percent. The Maroons also had a slight advantage over their opponents from beyond the arc, converting 30 percent and 35.7 percent respectively. Chicago led Brandeis in second chance points, 19 to 7. Both teams had a lot of support off the bench as four of the eight double-digit scorers did not start. The Maroons had 42 reserve points and the Judges had 38.
Chicago is 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference, having defeated New York University 58-50 on Friday. The Maroons will face Carnegie Mellon University on Friday. Brandeis is 8-6 overall and 0-3 in the UAA. This is their first 0-3 conference start since the 2005-2006 season. The team’s conference record places them in last place in the conference. Brandeis returns home for this weekend’s eventful UAA games against the University of Rochester on Friday and Emory University on Sunday. Friday is the program’s Hoopcoming, and Sunday is Alumni Family Day.
