CHICAGO, Ill. - Behind a game- and season-high 24 points and
career-best eight rebounds from senior guard Andre
Roberson (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson
Acad.), the 20th-ranked Brandeis University men's
basketball team defeated the host University of Chicago Maroons,
75-69, in University Athletic Association action. With the win, the
Judges, who defeated Washington University on Friday evening,
completed their first-ever road sweep of their Midwestern UAA foes.
Brandeis improves to 11-2 overall, 2-1 in the UAA, while Chicago
falls to 7-7, 1-2 UAA.
Roberson led all players with hot shooting, connecting on
8-of-10 from the field, 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 7-of-9 from
the line. He was one of four Brandeis players to score in double
figures. Sophomore Tyrone Hughes (Dorchester,
Mass./Taft School) matched his career-best with 16 points while
adding four assists, a game-high three steal and playing all 40
minutes for the first time in his career. Senior guard
Kenny Small (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) had 12
points, while sophomore forward Vytas Kriskus
(Kvedarna, Lithuania/Holderness School) had 11 points off the
bench.
Brandeis shot 49 percent from the floor for the game (24-of-49).
After forcing just five turnovers in the first half, the Judges got
10 Maroon miscues in the second to help pull away. The win was
Brandeis's second in seven meetings in Chicago's Ratner Center and
first since 2005.
Chicago was paced by Tom Williams, who recorded a double-double
with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. He had 15 points by
halftime and finished with a fine shooting performance, connecting
on 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-6 from downtown and his only
free-throw attempt. Steve Stefanou came off the bench to supply the
Maroons with 13 points on 8-of-12 overall, including three of his
four trifectas, leading a 30-13 edge in bench points for the hosts.
Paul Riskus also reached double figures for UC, thanks in large
part to a 7-for-7 performance on free throws. Jake Pancratz had
eight assists to lead all players.
Chicago held an early two-point lead at 6-4 after Williams
connected on his first two 3-point attempts. Brandeis answered with
the next six points of the game and held the lead the rest of the
stanza. The margin grew as large as nine in the first on lay-ups by
Roberson and Hughes with just over four minutes remaining, but UC
closed on a 7-3 run to cut the deficit to 36-32 at the
intermission.
The Maroons scored the first five points of the second half,
reclaiming a 37-36 lead on Riskus's traditional three-point play 35
seconds in. Brandeis answered with the next four points to go ahead
40-37 on a Small lay-up that forced a UC timeout with 90 seconds
elapsed. The hosts came out with an 8-2 run that gave them their
biggest lead, 45-42, on two more Riskus foul shots with 16:01 on
the clock. The lead lasted about three minutes before Roberson
returned the lead to the visitors from the line with 13:03 left.
That was part of a 20-7 run over a span of 7:12 that pushed the
lead back to double figures at 66-56 with 6:48 remaining. The
Judges kept the Maroons at bay before a couple of late trifectas
got Chicago back within six points at the end, 75-69.
Brandeis is next in action on Friday evening at 8 p.m. for their
home UAA opener against Rochester.
BOX
SCORE
