WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University men's basketball senior Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half tonight as the Judges held off visiting Bates College, 68-58, in the first game of the 2023 UAA Challenge in Red Auerbach Arena.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 4-2
• Bates: 1-7.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges scored the game's first seven points and never trailed in the contest.
• Bates called timeout to halt Brandeis's early momentum and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get within 7-6, but Brandeis coach Jean Bain responded with a TO of his own and the Judges came out with the game's next seven points in a row, including five by sophomore Jake Bender (Hope, R.I./St. George's School), to push the lead to eight.
• Brandeis led by as many as 14 in the first half, but the Bobcats closed to within six on an Elliott Cravitz 3-pointer that made it 31-26 with 2:01 to go.
• The visitors had a couple of changes to get closer, but Brandeis junior Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md. St./Vincent Pallotti) hit a late bucket to make it a 33-25 game in favor of the Judges at the break.
• Bender and Cravitz tied for game-high honors with nine first-half points.
• The Judges doubled that lead over the first 5:31 of the second half, taking a 45-29 advantage on a 3-pointer by sophomore Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Academy). It was the Judges' largest lead of the game.
• Brandeis's lead was still at double digits with just under eight minutes to go after a Bender lay-up on a nice feed from Adusei made it 56-46.
•  The Bobcats mounted a comeback, scoring the next nine points of the game, with a Simon McCormick 3-pointer with 4:51 on the clock getting Bates within 56-55.
• Bain used another timeout to stop the momentum, and the Judges came up short on their next possession, but got a stop of their own before Adusei hit a big 3-pointer with 3:35 remaining to push the lead back to four, 59-54.
• The teams traded two points on their next two possessions, and after Bates hit 1-of-2 from the line with 1:55 on the clock, Adusei answered with a dagger 3-pointer from the corner on a feed from Bender that made it a six-point game, 64-58, with just 94 seconds left in regulation.
• The Bobcats would not get any closer, and Brandeis hit its free throws down the stretch for the 10-point final.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• For the second time in three games, Adusei led the Judges with 18 points overall and 16 in the second half. He hit 6-of-8 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the line.
• The 18 points matched his career-high, set three other times in his career, including two games ago against Rhode Island College.
• Adusei also led the team with six rebounds and tied for team-high honors with four assists.
• Adusei was joined by three other Judges in scoring in double figures. Bender finished with 15 points, a career-high, while matching his career-best of five rebounds.
• Otoo had 14 points and Zene added 11 off the bench.
• Senior Ryan Power (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) added four assists and four steals.
• Bates had two double-digit scorers, as Cravitz finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 overall, 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Marc Begin II added 12 points.
• The Bobcats' Peter Psyhogeos had a game-high seven rebounds, while McCormick led all players with five assists.
• Brandeis had a 24-20 edge in points in the paint and 19-16 in points off turnovers. The Judges outshot Bates, 52.8% (28-53) to 38.5% (20-52), as the Judges hit over 50 percent from the field for the second game in a row.

2023 UAA CHALLENGE

• In the second game of the UAA Challenge tonight, #16 Emory took care of Colby, 87-57.
• The Eagles also led wire-to-wire, as tthey put four starters in double figures in scoring.
• Cale Martens notched a game-high 19 points in just 25 minutes. Logan Shanahan recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Jair Knight and Ben Pearce each scored 12. Pearce dished out seven assists.
• Twelve of the Eagles' active players scored points in the game.
• Colby was paced by Marcos Montiel, who scored 15 points, and Max Poulton, who had 11.

UP NEXT

• Emory will meet Bates tomorrow at 1 p.m., while Brandeis and Colby face off at 3 p.m. Three other games in the 2023 UAA Challenge will take place at Middlebury College.