The Brandeis men’s basketball team saw its six-game winning streak come to an end with a blowout loss to the Emory University Eagles, currently ranked fourth in the nation, 95-58. With the loss the Judges fell to 8-6 (2-1 UAA) while the Eagles improved to 13-1 (2-1 UAA).

The Eagles rode their red-hot shooting to a comfortable lead at the end of the first half. Emory shot 60 percent (21-of-35) from the field, 90 percent (9-of-10) from beyond the arc and 91 percent (10-of-11) from the free-throw line to take an insurmountable 61-34 lead at the break. Of the four Emory players who scored in double figures, all four of them had done so by halftime. Emory rookie forward Alex Foster shot a blistering 5-of-6 from the field, 3-of-3 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe in the first half and was 7-of-9 overall and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc for the game. Emory sophomore forward Alex Davis added 14 of his 19 points in the first half, hitting 4-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. Davis also chipped in with a game-high eight rebounds. Emory junior forward Michael Friedberg and senior guard Austin Claunch each had 11 points in the first half and finished with 17 and 14 points respectively. Claunch also finished with game-highs of eight assists and three steals. The Eagles took advantage of 18 Brandeis turnovers, converting them into 27 points, while committing just six turnovers themselves.

Guard Ben Bartoldus ’14, forward Alex Stoyle ’14 and forward Vytas Kriskus ’12 each led the Judges with 12 points. In 18 minutes of playing time off the bench, Stoyle recorded a career-high in scoring on 5-of-8 shooting including 2-of-3 from downtown while his team-high seven rebounds tied a career-high. Bartoldus scored six points in each half while nine of Kriskus’ 12 points came in the first half. Just two days after shooting 61 percent in the second half in a win over Rochester, Brandeis was held to just 38.9 percent shooting (21-of-54) in the game. The Judges were able to outrebound Emory, 34-30, and finished with five blocked shots to Emory’s one but it wasn’t enough to overcome Emory’s hot shooting.

Earlier in the week in a tightly contested game that was much closer than the final score indicated, the Brandeis men’s basketball team defeated the visiting Rochester Yellowjackets 78-64.

In the first 26 minutes of play, the game saw nine ties and seven lead changes as Brandeis and Rochester traded blows. Brandeis trailed by one at halftime, 29-28, and quickly found themselves down three points as Rochester scored the first basket of the second half. After a number of empty possessions, Bartoldus tied the game at 31-31 with a three-pointer. After a defensive stop on the other end, Bartoldus scored again to give the Judges the lead. The two teams continued to trade baskets and a pair of free throws by Emory senior forward Nate Nosovel at the 14:21 mark of the second half gave Rochester their last lead of the game.

On the next possession, Brandeis guard Jay Freeman ’13 put back a missed three-pointer, tying the game and igniting a 10-0 run. Kriskus grabbed the rebound on a Rochester miss on the next possession and then drained a jumper on the other end to give Brandeis the lead for good. The Judges scored their next six points directly off of steals from guard Tyrone Hughes ’12, Kriskus and forward Alex Schmidt ’14, pushing the lead to 45-37 with 11:27 left in the game. Rochester junior center Rob Reid converted a traditional three-point play on the next possession to cut the Brandeis lead to five points; however, the Judges responded with a 10-3 run to extend the lead to 12 at 55-43 with 8:24 left in the game.

The Judges led by as many as 18 points in the second half as they shot 61.3 percent (19-of-31) while holding Rochester to 46.7 percent (14-of-30) and outrebounded the Yellowjackets 19-10.

The Judges had three players in double figures for the game. Kriskus led the team with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including 1-of-4 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Kriskus also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, finishing two shy of his third double-double of the season. Bartoldus scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half where he shot 5-of-6 overall including 2-of-3 from downtown after missing all three of his shots in the first half. Bartoldus also finished with two assists, two blocks and two steals.

Brandeis will return to UAA action Friday when they travel to Washington University in St. Louis for a 9 p.m. matchup.