The women’s and men’s basketball teams each had a pair of games on this “Hoopcoming” and Alumni Family Weekend. Both squads played the University of Rochester on Friday and Emory University on Sunday.
The women’s basketball team won both games this weekend. They ended with a hard fought battle against seventh-ranked Emory University at home on Sunday. The final score was 65-61. This followed their Friday 58-57 win against the University of Rochester.
Brandeis got off to a good start against the Eagles, leading 11-5 after five minutes. Their largest lead of the game was by seven with 10:20 remaining in the first. They maintained the lead until late in the first half but went into halftime down 34-27. The Judges were down by seven later in the game with 13:24 remaining in the second half but guard Samantha Mancinelli ’16 brought the team back to within two on a layup and three free throws. From here, the Eagles bounced back to lead 58-48 with 8:24 left, their largest lead of the afternoon. The comeback began gradually from here as guard Paris Hodges ’17 and forward Nicolina Vitale ’14 each scored two points.
Emory went five crucial minutes without a point, missing 13 of their last 14 shots, allowing guard Kasey Dean ’14 to score six consecutive points to be down by only two. Hodges tied the game up, and Dean made a shot-clock beating jumper to take the final lead. Mancinelli scored the dagger shot with 10 seconds left to move the one-point lead to four. The Judges had gone on a 17-3 run in the final eight minutes and beat the nationally ranked team.
Brandeis had a well-rounded group of performers, many of whom shined in the second half. They were led by team captain Dean, who had 19 points on 8-14 shooting and pulled in eight rebounds. She was 5-7 shooting in the second half. Forward Maria Jackson ’17 had 14 points and eight rebounds. Mancinelli and Vitale reached double-digit scoring as well. Vitale and guard Janelle Rodriguez ’14 each had six rebounds. Hodges aided the team with a game-high 10 rebounds, seven in the second half alone and six assists. Emory’s Selena Castillo led the game with 20 points, including making three of five from three. Savannah Morgan led the game with 37 minutes played and had 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and a game-high four steals. Hannah Lilly had 11 points and seven boards. Dean’s and Hodges’ weekend performances were recognized by the University Athletic Association as two of the conference’s outstanding performances of the week.
The Judges outrebounded Emory 48-38 and outshot opponents in the paint 32-12. They also made four more shots through eight fewer attempts, outshooting the Eagles 44.1 percent to 32.8 percent. Their shooting percentage rose to 51.9 percent in the second half. Brandeis had trouble connecting from beyond the arc, shooting only 18.2 percent on 11 attempts while Emory was 8-25 at 32 percent. The Judges had trouble holding onto the ball as well, allowing 16 turnovers to the Eagles 10. As a result, Emory led in points off of turnovers by 21-10.
Emory’s loss followed their 77-71 defeat to New York University, which was their first of the season. They have moved down to the 16th-ranked team in the nation. NYU is ranked 20th and Washington University in St. Louis is second. The Eagles are 14-2 overall and 3-2 in the UAA. Brandeis is 8-8 overall and 2-3 in-conference. The Judges are fifth in the conference, one game ahead of next weekend’s opponents and the University of Rochester. Next weekend’s games will be on the road at Case Western Reserve University on Friday and Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday.
The men’s basketball team won their first conference game of the year during the inaugural Hoopcoming event on Friday night. They lost a high-scoring match on Sunday 94-88 to Emory University.
The team defeated the University of Rochester 83-66 on Friday. The visitors had a quick 7-2 lead before Brandeis went on an 11-2 run to take the lead. The first half was hard fought with numerous ties and lead changes until Brandeis went on an 8-0 run on a layup/three pointer combination by guard Ben Bartoldus ’14 followed by a complementary three by guard Gabriel Moton ’14. The team would go into halftime up by four and hold onto the lead for the remainder of the game. Rochester was not able to sprint out in the second half, making only one field-goal in the periods first five minutes. They were outscored 47-34 in the second due to Brandeis’ 64 percent field goal and 75 percent three point percentages in the period. The Yellow Jackets continued to be within a couple possessions of the lead, but the Judges stepped into multiple double-digit leads on three-pointers by guard Derek Retos ’14. They were able to maintain the lead late in the second half, making nine of 10 free throws during a two-minute span to increase their lead from 12 to a game-high 19 with 2:02 remaining.
Moton led the game with 21 points on 7-11 from the field and a 5-5 from the line. Bartoldus added 17 points, as Retos and guard Robinson Vilmont ’17 rounded out the teams double-digit scorers. Retos was 3-5 from beyond the arc with all three successes coming in the second half. Center Youri Dascy ’14 led the game with seven rebounds in his 12 minutes of play. Vilmont and guard Colby Smith ’16 led all with four assists apiece.
Rochester was led by Tyler Sankes who had 16 points on 5-7 shooting and 6-6 on free throws. Mack Montague added 11 points and five rebounds. Dylan Peretz had five rebounds as well. Moton and Retos’ weekend performances were recognized by the UAA. Moton scored 32 points against Emory. Retos became the third player in school history to score 200 three-pointers in his career.
The Judges were able to outrebound their opponents despite Rochester having three players who were taller than all of Brandeis’ athletes. Brandeis outshot their opponents, making 50.9 percent against 44 percent for the Yellow Jackets. The team was even more impressive from beyond the arc, making 45 percent of threes versus 31.8 percent for the visitors. The Judges also led in assists 18-11 and turnovers forced 12-8. They were able to capitalize on these turnovers, scoring 16 points off turnovers. Because of the team’s strong lead, the Judges were able to give playing time to 16 players. The 800 in attendance mark the team’s largest crowd of the year.
The Yellow Jackets are 7-9 overall and 1-4 in the UAA after a Sunday loss to NYU. The Judges are 9-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference. The teams are tied for last in the conference. Brandeis faces Case Western and Carnegie Mellon this weekend.
