The Brandeis University men’s basketball team traveled to St. Louis and Chicago over the weekend, improving to 4-1 in the UAA as they defeated the University of Chicago (UChicago) Maroons in the final seconds of the game, but unfortunately fell to the Washington University at St. Louis (WashU) Bears in regulation.
The #24-ranked Judges were unable to gain the advantage over the #13 WashU, falling 70-60 on the road. The men struggled offensively, especially early on after junior Chandler Jones ’21 picked up two early fouls. Leading by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Bears took a 30-14 lead with seven minutes to go. The Judges were able to stay disciplined defensively, holding their opponents to only one field goal for the remainder of the half; additionally, the men scored 13 straight points and closed within three points off of a jumper by Sam Nassar ’22, which made it 30-27 with 2:19 to go. With 35 seconds left in the half, senior leader Collin Sawyer ’20 knocked down a three with the shot clock winding down to make it a three-point game at 33-30; the Bears answered from downtown just before the half to increase their lead to six heading into the locker room.
WashU came out strong, scoring the first basket of the second half, but Jones led the Judges, scoring their first five points of the second half; after hitting a three 2:35 into the half, Jones made it a one-possession game at 38-35. Brandeis had two opportunities to take the lead after forcing two stops, but the Judges committed two turnovers. Over a span of three minutes and thirty seconds, the Bears went on a 12-4 run, increasing the lead to 11; after a WashU three-pointer, the Judges were unable to get within six points the rest of the game.
The final score was 70-60. 6-of-6 from the line, 2-of-5 from three, and 6-of-12 from the field, Sawyer led the Judges with 20 points, 14 of which came in the first half; this game was his fifth 20-point game of the season. He also had a career-high and team-high four assists. Nolan Hagerty ’22 racked up 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds on his fourth double-double of the season. Rookie Dylan Lien ’23 and Jones each added nine points, with all of Jones’ points coming in the second half.
WashU had nine three-pointers to the Judges’ five, and the Bears also outscored Brandeis 13-9 from the stripe. Although both teams were close in turnovers—Brandeis had 14 and WashU 11—the Bears converted theirs into a 20-11 margin in points off of turnovers.
On Sunday morning, senior Eric D’Aguanno ’20 hit a game-winning shot for the second week in a row to secure the win for the Judges against the University of Chicago. His three-pointer with 3.2 seconds to play in regulation defeated host UChicago, 63-60, in their first UAA matchup this season.
The Brandeis men’s team trailed the Maroons by four heading into the locker room, but the Judges were able to come back and lead by as many as nine points in the second half. The Judges took their largest lead of the game with 10 minutes to play off of a D’Aguanno jump shot, which made it 51-42. With just under three minutes to play in regulation, Chicago was able to close within two points; Jones, though, converted on a three-point play with two minutes left that made it 65-60; this was his third and-one of the contest.
Both teams forced turnovers, which allowed Chicago to finish a layup, making it a one-possession game. After the Judges called a timeout, they missed a three; UChicago buried one from deep with 29 seconds remaining to tie the game up at 60. Setting up the final possession of the game, the Judges inbounded the rock to Jones. Dribbling to the top of the key, Jones found D’Aguanno open on the left wing for the game-winning three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left. Chicago called a timeout to try and set up a shot to force overtime, but the Maroons were unsuccessful.
Coming off the bench, not only did D’Aguanno hit the game-winning shot, but he also finished with a team-high 15 points in just 18 minutes. He hit 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep. He now has 226 career three-pointers, five shy of the school career record. Scoring more than the entire UChicago bench, 10 of D’Aguanno’s 15 points were scored in the second half. As a whole, the Brandeis reserves outscored the Maroon’s bench 28-13. Jones was the only other Judge to score in double figures with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Hagerty made a well-rounded contribution scoring six points, ripping seven boards and assisting three times, a team-high.
Both Brandeis and UChicago were evenly matched, with the Judges out-rebounding the Maroons 34-33. There were only 12 turnovers in the game, seven of which came from the Judges. Brandeis was also able to outshoot the Maroons 43 percent to 37 percent, but UChicago hit eight from behind the arc, while the Judges only converted six; they also had a slim 8-7 edge from the stripe.
The Brandeis men’s basketball team returns to Red Auerbach Arena next weekend to host Case Western Reserve University on Friday night at 8 p.m.
