WALTHAM, Mass. - The 21st-ranked Brandeis University
basketball team could not overcome the hot shooting of third-ranked
Washington University, as the Judges fell, 92-82, in Red Auerbach
Arena. Washington won its eighth in a row since losing to the
Judges in January, improving to 19-2, 9-1 in the University
Athletic Association, while Brandeis falls to 16-5, 6-4 in the UAA.
WashU graduate student Sean Wallis (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook
North) and senior Aaron Thompson (Elida, Ohio/Elida) combined for
54 points and nine assists to lead the Bears. Wallis had a game-
and season-high 29 points, including 17 in the second half. He shot
8-of-13 from the field, 5-of-8 from downtown and 8-of-10 from the
line. Wallis also tied for game-high honors with seven assists.
Thompson scored 25 points on 9-of-12 from the floor, 5-of-7 from
deep and 2-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Two other Bear players reached double figures, as sophomore
guard Dylan Richter (Lincolnshire, Ill/Adlai Stevenson) had 12
points off the bench and junior Spencer Gay (Dacula, ga./Mill
Creek) added 10 and a team-high seven rebounds. Washington matched
the season-high scored against Brandeis by connecting on 63 percent
from the field (29-46), including a scorching 67 percent in the
first half (18-27). The Bears also connected on 13 3-pointers at a
57 percent clip (13-23), improving from 50 percent in the first
half (5-10) to 61.5 percent in the second (8-13).
Brandeis fell despite 20 points and a game-high eight rebounds
from senior Terrell Hollins (Springfield,
Mass./Longmeadow). Hollins had 10 points in each half, but his
streak of seven-straight games with a double-double was snapped.
Hollins also had an assist, making him the 15th player
in school history with 200 for his career and just the third to
amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 helpers.
Classmate Kenny Small (Stratford,
Conn./Stratford) added 17 points, with 14 coming in the second
stanza, and three steals. Sophomore guard Vytas
Kriskus (Kvedarna, Lithuania/Holderness School) had 15
points off the bench, all in the second half, including 11 points
in one four-minute stretch. Senior guard Andre
Roberson (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson Acad.)
had 10 points and tied Wallis for game-high honors with seven
assists. Brandeis stayed in the game by forcing 22 WashU turnovers
and converting them into 30 points.
Brandeis opened the game strong, opening on a 14-8 run over the
first 4:54. A Roberson jumper established the Judges' six-point
lead. WashU answered by scoring 12 of the game's next 14 points
over a four-minute string, with Wallis and Thompson notching five
points each in the run and Richter capping it with a put-back of
his own miss at the 11:13 mark.
Brandeis got back within one on a traditional three-point play
by Hollins. The Bears responded by scoring on seven-straight
attempts from the field and three-of-four from the line, while the
Judges missed seven-of-nine, to establish a 39-24 lead on a
Thompson trifecta with 3:19 left in the first. WashU took a 44-32
lead into the locker room thanks to 15 first-half points from
Thompson and 12 from Wallis. Hollins topped the Judges with 10
points.
After a Spencer Gay lay-up opened the second half to stretch the
lead to 14, Brandeis answered with back-to-back buckets in the
paint by senior Richard Magee (Burke, Va./Lake
Braddock) and Hollins to get within 10. The lead was still double
figures four minutes in after a pair of Wallis foul shots made it
51-41. The Judges forced three turnovers on the next four WashU
possessions to put together an 8-3 string that got them within five
on two Small free throws. Brandeis had a chance to get closed after
another stop, but could not convert, and the Bears made them pay
with a trifecta from Cameron Smith (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville)
at the 13:15 mark, pushing the lead back to eight, 57-49.
Hughes and Roberson answered with consecutive jumpers that got
Brandeis as close as they would come in the second half, four
points, at 57-53, with 12:25 remaining. Unfortunately, the Judges
went cold and WashU got to the line, hitting six straight from the
charity stripe. The last two of those came on a technical foul
assessed to the Brandeis bench, and the Bears hit a 3-pointer
afterwards for a five-point possession. They connected from deep on
their next two trips down the floor to go back ahead by 15, 72-57,
on another Thompson bomb at the 9:17 mark.
At that point, Kriskus, who scored his first bucket of the game
with just under 10 minutes remaining, heated up, sparking an 11-1
run. Kriskus answered Thompson's bomb and hit two more, cutting the
lead back to five, 73-68, with 5:33 remaining. The Judges forced a
turnover and had a chance to get within one possession, but came up
short and could get no closer. They were within five again with
2:15 remaining, but Wallis connected from deep with 1:43 as the
shot clock wound down to ice the contest for the Bears.
BOX
SCORE
