In a game against the Rochester Yellowjackets on Jan. 20, the Brandeis men’s basketball team won 83-72.
Beginning the game in an eight-point deficit, the Judges fought back and wound up scoring 18 points over about five minutes. Toby Harris ’25 led the team on their scoring run with 10 of the Judges’ 18 points. Judges guard Sam Adusei ’23 led the team in first half scoring, with 13 of the team’s 43 points. Despite the slow beginning to the game, the Judges had a dominant first half and wound up with an 11-point lead against the Yellowjackets.
Moving to the second half, the Judges’ lead appeared to be in jeopardy. The Yellowjackets only allowed one successful shot from the field over 11 minutes; outscoring the judges 24-12 to take a 55-56 lead with just eight and a half minutes remaining. But, in the last few minutes of the game, the Judges looked like their first-half selves again. Starting a 7-0 run by making two of three free throws at the line, Ethan Edwards ’26 got the Judges back in the game. Edwards also put a cap on the climb back with an and-one with seven minutes remaining.
The Yellowjackets appeared to have momentum towards a victory at some points, but those hopes were quickly dashed as the Judges hit their free throws to create an insurmountable 83-72 lead. For the fifth time this season, the Judges had four players with double-digit scoring totals. Toby Harris led the Judges with 19 points, Sam Adusei and Quron Zene ’26 had 18 each, and Ethan Edwards had 15 coming off of the bench. Although the Judges made 48% of their shots to the Yellowjackets’ 54.9%, most of the Judges’ misses came in the second half as they shot nine for 28 from the field. After this victory against the No. 7-ranked Yellowjackets, the Judges had a .666 winning percentage against Top-25 teams and improved to 11-4 for the season.
Just a few days later, on Jan. 22, the Judges fell 71-73 in overtime against the No. 18 Emory Eagles. The game was extremely close, with the Judges and the Eagles even at both halftime and the end of regular time, but Emory was able to score two points to the Judges zero in overtime to eke out a victory. The game was never out of reach for either team, with the largest lead of the game being only six points.
The first half was extremely tight with neither team able to gain much ground. It looked as if the Eagles would lead going into the second half before a buzzer beater by Harris tied the game at 36. The Eagles started the second half strong with four straight points and took a six-point lead with 11 and a half minutes left in the game. But, Brandeis mounted a comeback to tie the game at 55 over the next two minutes. With just three minutes remaining, the Judges led 71-68. But the Judges wouldn’t score any more points in this game as Emory hit a 3-pointer to tie the game before a decisive Eagles layup in overtime. Neither time had a positive field goal percentage, with the Judges shooting 38.6% and the Eagles shooting 42% from the field.
The Judges had three players who scored with over 10 points, including Harris’ game-leading 26 over 43 minutes of playtime. Zene and Edwards also hit double-digit scoring, with Zene putting up his second career double-double. Notably, the Eagles have bested the Judges in eight of their nine previous matchups. The Judges are 6-2 in overtime under Jean Bain’s leadership, with both losses coming at home to the Eagles.
Next up, the No. 19 Case Western Reserve University Spartans will come to town to face the Judges. Including that matchup, the Judges only have six more contests in the regular season. With this loss to the Eagles, they sit at 11-5 on the season.
