In the Brandeis men’s basketball final regular season game at Red Auerbach Arena, Corey Sherman ’19 scored 15 points and Latye Workman ’18 had five blocks to lead Brandeis to a 71-66 overtime victory against Case Western on Sunday, Feb. 10. Although Workman only scored seven points, he had three crucial blocks in overtime. The Judges held the Spartans to 1 of 8 shots in overtime and 27 percent overall. “I had to affect this game some way,” Workman said. “Tonight it wasn’t working on offense, but you can always affect a game on defense.” Down 59-56 with six seconds remaining, the Spartans inbounded to sophomore Antonio Ionadi ’21. Ionadi dribbled up the right sideline before being stripped. A loose ball ensued, where Case Western’s Ryan Newton picked it up and flung a half-court buzzer-beater to send the game into overtime.
Brandeis Lawrence Sabir ’21 opened the scoring in overtime with an and-one lay-up. He scored seven points in the period and made all five of his free throws. Chandler Jones ’21 made two free throws with 11 seconds left to extend the Judges’ lead to 71-66 and put the game out of reach. Jones scored 21 points and gathered 11 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season.
After transferring from Dickinson College a season ago, Sherman primarily came off the bench, but was inserted into the starting lineup towards the end of last season. This season, Sherman has started every game and leads the Judges with 13.5 points per game. Workman, who won UAA honorable mention last season, leads the Judges in blocks and steals. “It feels good to finally bring some wins back to Brandeis,” Sherman said. Sherman and Workman led the Judges to a 7-7 record in the UAA this season, their best finish since the 2012-2013 season. “For Tye and myself, our goal this year was to change the course of the program,” Sherman said. “We really just wanted to do anything we could to this place in a better spot than what we came,” he added.
When the teams shook hands a small altercation took place between the squads, resulting in several players being restrained. Case Western coach Todd McGuinness said Brandeis players misunderstood his attempt to shake hands with them and the tension escalated from there.
The Judges next went on the road to the Midwest where they played the University of Chicago and Washington University. Sherman scored 17 points and Sabir scored 12 points and had five assists as the Judges defeated Chicago 72-52 on Feb. 15 at the Ratner Athletic Center.
Despite the game being close for the first six minutes, as Brandeis led 10-9 with 14:12 remaining, the Judges went on an 8-0 scoring run with 3-pointers coming from Sherman and Eric D’Aguanno ’20. The Judges shot 60 percent from the 3-point line in the first half and 57 percent overall as they ended the half with a 40-26 halftime advantage.The Judges kept Chicago at bay in the second half, as the closest the Maroons got to the Judges’ lead was eight points. The Maroons struggled from the field, shooting 32 percent from the field and 21 percent on 3-pointers. D’Aguanno scored 15 points and corralled eight rebounds off the bench and Jones scored eight points and had nine rebounds.
The Judges then traveled to St. Louis to take on Washington University. The Bears were victorious with a 75-54 victory over Brandeis on Feb. 17 at the Sumers Recreation Center. After a layup by Workman to cut the Bear’s lead to 49-46 with 7:50:00 remaining in the second half, the Bears called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Bears scored seven straight points to push their lead to 10 points. The Judges never recovered as they couldn’t get within eight points of the lead.
The Judges had been even with the Bears throughout the game before the Bears pulled ahead late. The Judges had a seven point lead with 6:07:00 left in the first half following a three by Sherman. The Bears responded with 15-6 run to end the first half leading 29-28.
Although both teams shot similar percentages on 3-pointers, with the Bears shooting 35 percent and the Judges shooting 33 percent, the Judges shot only 31 percent from the field. Sherman scored 13 points and Jones scored nine points with seven rebounds for the Judges. Freshman Kyle Downing ’22 scored eight points, a career high for him.
The Judges closed out UAA play with a trip to New York University on Feb. 23. NYU’s Dom Cristiano scored 15 points and added nine rebounds as the Violets won 53-51 at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.
Following a 3-pointer by D’Aguanno with 16 seconds remaining. With a chance to tie the game, Jones missed a jump shot with two seconds left, sealing the win for the Violets.
Despite never leading in the game, the Judges hung around with the Violets. Down 50-42 with 3:39:00 left to play, the Judges rallied, scoring the next five points on a three-point by Colin Sawyer ’20 and a contested jumper by Sabir. Sawyer led the Judges with 16 points, while Sabir had eight points, a team-high nine rebounds and four assists.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Judges qualified for postseason play for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. The Judges are in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament. The tournament features 15 teams and is single elimination.
Sawyer went 6 of 12 on 3-pointers and Jones added 19 points as the Judges advanced to the quarterfinals with a 75-49 victory over John Jay College.
Three Judges also earned All-UAA Honors. Sabir earned UAA Defensive Player of the Year, joining Tim Reale ’17. Sabir averages 7.1 points and a team-best 3.8 assists per game. He is recognized by the UAA for his 19 steals and averaged 3.8 rebounds per a game despite being one of the shortest players on the team. He lead the Judges lead in the UAA for scoring defense and 29th in Division III and second in the UAA in field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage defense. Sherman also earned his first All-UAA accolade being named to the All-UAA Second Team. Sherman led Brandeis in scoring 10 times this season and was second in conference from the free throw line. Sherman earned MVP at the New England Big Four Challenge in December and is a two-time UAA Athlete of the Week recipient. Jones is the final Judges to receive a league honor with All-UAA Honorable Mention. Jones is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 12.0 points a game and leads the team with rebounds at 6.4 per game. He is ranked 14th in the UAA for scoring and 10th in rebounding.
Leading 36-25 with two minutes remaining in the first half, the Judges closed out the half on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 45-25. Following a 3-pointer by Sawyer with 16:34:00 in the second half, the Bloodhounds went scoreless for nearly six minutes.
The Judges led for the entire game, quickly getting out to an 8-1 run to start the game. John Jay would get no closer than four points following free throws by Doug Levy with 15:11 remaining in the first half. Sawyer scored 21 points, while Jones in addition to his 19 points added nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. The Judges shot 43 percent on 3-pointers, while winning the assist battle 18-4. Corey Sherman scored 16 points and Latye Workman led the Judges with three steals and also had two ferocious blocks. Freshman Nolan Haggerty electrified the Brandeis bench as well as the crowd with his dunk with 7:01 left in the second half.
The Judges stole the ball six times and blocked six shots as their defense harassed and suffocated John Jay. The Bloodhounds shot 28 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc. The Judges held John Jay’s leading scorer, Essien Epps, who averages 16 points per game, to nine points on 3 of 16 shooting. The Judges will play Marywood University on Friday at Hood College, which is located about 45 miles north of Washington, D.C. for the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament.
