The Judges spent the last weekend away from their comfortable home-court advantage as they travelled to battle it out with University Athletic Association (UAA) opponents: Case Western Reserve and Carnegie Mellon University. The men’s basketball team dropped both games, losing to Case Western Reserve 64-69 and Carnegie Mellon University 58-72.
The first game of the weekend was against the Case Western Reserve Spartans in Cleveland, OH this past Friday. The game started well for the Judges as they gained a 29-26 lead during the first half. It was a strong half for them as both rookie Chandler Jones ’21 and Colin Sawyer ’20 came out strong with 6 points each. The Spartans began the half on the same note they ended the first half, however, coming out with a 23-11 run. The Judges tried to make a comeback during the last eight minutes with the help of rookie Semih Say ’21 and Latye Workman ’18, but the Spartans made a clutch play to close the game with a charge to regain possession which led to a three possession lead. The Judges were unable to close the gap in the remaining minute, losing to Case Western 64-69.
On offense, Lawrence Sabir ’21 and Latye Workman ’18 stood out in the tight game with the Spartans, earning 12 and 10 points respectively. Workman also carried the Judges defensively, with 5 rebounds in the game, while Corey Sherman ’19 matched Workman’s boards against Case Western Reserve.
In the game against Carnegie Mellon University this past Sunday, the Judges suffered a tougher loss, falling 58-72 to their opponents. The Judges never secured a lead against Carnegie Mellon, with Carnegie Mellon hitting eight of their first nine shots and taking off from there. The Judges lagged 45-24 at halftime. Brandeis tried to close the gap, however, at the beginning of the second half with a 11-2 run in the first four minutes. The Judges managed to come within 11 points of their opponent, but couldn’t hold on to their momentum. Carnegie Mellon defeated the Judges 58-72.
Collin Sawyer ’20 gave a strong performance for the Judges as the high scorer for Brandeis. Sawyer earned 14 points against Carnegie Mellon with 11 of those points earned in the second half. Workman secured his third double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the game. Jones contributed eight points, five assists, four rebounds and three blocks as Sabir almost matched Jones’ stats for the game, earning eight points and four rebounds as well.
The Brandeis men’s basketball team will head to another UAA match this Friday, Feb. 9 against Washington University at St. Louis (WashU). The Judges will take the court at home in Gosman Athletic Center at 8 p.m.