CLEVELAND, Ohio - The 19th-ranked Brandeis University
men's basketball team fought back from a 12-point second-half
deficit to pull within one point, but the Judges' last-ditch
efforts fell short as they suffered a 63-61 University Athletic
Association (UAA) defeat at the hands of host Case Western Reserve
University. With the loss, Brandeis falls to 14-4, 5-3 in the UAA,
while the Spartans snap a 12-game losing streak against the Judges
and improve to 10-9 overall, 2-6 in the association.
Brandeis faced its biggest deficit of the game, 12 points at
48-36, eight minutes into the second half after Spartan junior
center Eric Duerr (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) opened by scoring
his team's first 13 points of the stanza. The Judges, still down by
10, 52-42, with 9:34 left in the contest, began their climb back
into the game on a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Tyrone
Hughes (Dorchester, Mass./Taft School). A trifecta by
classmate Vytas Kriskus (Kvedarna,
Lithuania/Holderness) got the Judges within six with just under
seven minutes remaining, and a Hughes free throw cut the deficit to
five, 54-49. Case rookie Evan Tsudis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central
Catholic) stopped the Brandeis momentum with a pair of free throws,
but Brandeis senior Andre Roberson (Springfield,
Mass./Wilbraham & Monson) answered with a pull-up jumper.
The Spartans missed their next four shots. On the Judges' next
possession, Brandeis missed their first two attempts, but Kriskus
got a put-back to get within 56-53. Case senior Bryan Erce (Berwyn,
Ill./Morton West) hit one-of-two from the line to push the
advantage back to four, but Hughes' trifecta from the left elbow
got Brandeis back to within a single point. Erce and Roberson
traded foul shots on the next two possessions, but the Spartan
player missed the first of two with 1:05 remaining to make the
score 60-58 with 1:05 on the clock.
Brandeis missed a 3-pointer on their next attempt, but senior
Terrell Hollins (Springfield, Mass./Longmeadow)
was able to tie up the ensuing rebound with 37 seconds left.
Roberson was fouled on a drive to the net, sending him to the line
with a chance to tie the game. He hit the first free throw, but
missed the second. Hollins was on the spot once again, grabbing the
offensive board. He found classmate Kenny Small
(Stratford, Conn./Stratford) open from 12 feet, but Small's jumper
was hard off the back iron. Case got the ensuing rebound and was
able to go the other way quickly to reestablish a three-point lead,
62-59.
Back the other way with 4.9 seconds left, the Spartans elected
to foul Hughes before he took a shot. He nearly made them pay with
a quick release, but the foul was called on the floor. After
hitting both freebies, Brandeis fouled Erce with 3.9 on the clock.
He missed the first and hit the second, giving the Judges hope for
a buzzer-beater. Roberson raced the ball up the floor, but his
desperation shot from 25 feet went wide, giving the hosts the
upset.
Brandeis was led by Hollins, who recorded his fifth-straight
double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Roberson
also finished with 13 points and contributed a game-high six
assists, while Hughes had 12 points, connecting on all three
3-pointers he tried and going 3-for-4 from the line. The Judges
lost for just the second time in 13 games when holding their
opponents under 70 points as they were unable to overcome a 44-31
rebounding disadvantage despite a 15-9 edge in points off
turnovers.
Case's Erce was the game-high scorer with 17 points, while
leading his team with five assists. Duerr finished with 13 points,
all in the key stretch early in the second half. He also had six
rebounds and four blocked shots. Tom Summers led the hosts with
seven rebounds.
BOX
SCORE
