CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Brandeis University men's basketball team led for much of the early part of the second half, but host Case Western Reserve went on a 26-8 run to take the lead and the #5-ranked Spartans hung on for a 77-76 University Athletic Association win.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 10-4, 1-2 UAA.
• CWRU: 13-1, 2-1 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges had a terrific first half, outscoring CWRU, 42-31. Brandeis shot 69% from the field (18-26) and 71% from 3-point range (5-7), while holding the hosts to 36% overall (11-30) and 8% from beyond the arc (1-12).
• Sophomore Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Academy) was the offensive star, scoring 12 points before the break, while senior Ryan Power (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) added eight.
• Power opened the second half with a three-point play to give the Judges their largest lead of the game at 14 points. He hit another driving lay-up with 14:09 to go in the game that gave Brandeis a 54-43 lead.
• CWRU answered with the next seven points in a row to close within 54-50 on a putback by Umar Rashid at the 12:43 mark, forcing Brandeis to call a timeout.
• Brandeis answered out of the TO, extending their lead back to seven on a David Perez-MIralles (Miami, Fla./Riviera Prep) bucket just past the halfway point of the second half.
• The Spartans answered with the next eight points, taking their first lead since the first half on a 3-pointer by Preston Maccoux that made it 61-60. Shortly before that bucket by Maccoux, Power came down awkwardly off a missed shot, playing one more possession before leaving the game for good.
• The Judges stopped the bleeding briefly on a jumper by sophomore Jake Bender (Hope, R.I./St. George's School), but Anthony Mazzeo and Ian Elam hit back-to-back trifectas for CWRU.
• They extended the lead to seven points on another Mazzeo bucket, putting the hosts ahead, 69-62, with 4:39 left in the game.
• Edwards responded, scoring the game's next five points on a floating jumper and a 3-pointer, getting Brandeis back within one possession.
• The teams traded free throws, and Rashid hit a bucket before Brandeis sophomore Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Academy) dialed long distance to make it a one-point game, 73-72, with 2:29 left.
• CWRU scored the game's next four points on an Elam putback and two Mazzeo free throws that pushed the lead back to five, 77-72, with 1:12 left.
• The Judges weren't done, as on their next possession, Zene got an offensive rebound, scoring the putback and drawing a foul. Meanwhile, the CWRU bench was whistled for a technical foul.
• Edwards hit 1-of-2 on the tech, and Zene hit his foul shot to get Brandeis within one point with just over 53 seconds on the clock.
• Brandeis played excellent defense on the ensuing CWRU possession. Senior Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) had his first lay-up attempt blocked out of bounds on the next possession, giving Brandeis a chance with 5.4 seconds left in regulation. Zene's initial jumper on the play was just off to the right, while junior Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) corralled the offensive board, but his last-second buzzer-beater was also just off the mark, giving CWRU the 77-76 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Edwards led the Judges with 21 points on the day, a season-high. It was his first 20-point game of the season and the sixth of his career. Edwards hit 7-of-13 from the floor, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 4-of-6 from the line.
• Power finished with 18 points to tie his career scoring high. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
• Zene added 12 points, six coming in each half. He also tied with senior Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./Old Lyme) for team-high honors with five rebounds, while Otoo and Adusei had four each.
• Using led the Judges with three assists.
• Mazzeo was the game's leading scorer with 26 points, coming on 7-of-15 from the field, 2-of-6 from deep and 10-of-14 from the line. He also distributed eight assists, matching the Judges' team total, and involving him in 15 of the Spartans' 28 buckets.
• Elam added 13 points and Rashid had 11 for CWRU. Rashid grabbed a game-high nine rebounds as the Spartans had a slight 33-30 edge on the glass.
• After Brandeis had the upper hand shooting the first half, CWRU improved to 61% in the second (17-28), including 60% from 3-point range (6-10), while the Judges cooled off to 36% (12-33) and 20% (2-10), respectively.
• Case Western Reserve also had a 14-9 scoring advantage from the free-throw line.

UP NEXT

• Having completed a three-game road trip to start the UAA season, Brandeis returns home for their next four games. They host the University of Chicago next Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.