WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team, playing without one starter and with another leaving the game early were unable to shut down visiting 20^th-ranked Emory University today in a 78-65 University Athletic Association loss.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 11-6, 2-4 UAA.
• Emory: 12-5, 3-3 UAA, ranked #20 in Division III by D3hoops.com

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges, playing without sophomore Jake Bender (Hope, R.I./St. George's School), saw senior Ryan Power (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) go down with an injury late in the first half.
• Even with Power available, the Judges trailed for the entire contest. Emory opened the game on an 11-2 run as Brandeis missed three of its first four shots and committed a couple of turnovers, while the Eagles were 5-of-9 with two offensive rebounds.
• Brandeis battled back within four points on a jumper by sophomore Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Academy) that made it 13-9 with eight minutes elapsed.
• The visitors responded with 16 of the game's next 20 points to build their biggest lead of the half at 16, 29-13, on Jair Knight's jumper with 5:38 left.
• The Judges responded with a 10-0 run of their own over the next 3:30, thanks to eight points from junior Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti), including a pair of 3-pointers, the last of which got Brandeis within 29-23 with 1:59 to go.
• Emory netted the last five points of the stanza to claim a 34-23 lead. Otoo, Knight and and Emory's Logan Shanahan each had eight points in the half.
• Brandeis cut into the lead a bit early in the second half, getting as close as eight points twice, but Emory had answers each time, and the Judges went cold from 3-point range as they tried to narrow the deficit.
• Emory led by as many as 23 points before a late 15-3 run by the Judges got them within the final 13-point margin of defeat.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Otoo led all players with 21 points, his Brandeis career-high and his sixth career 20-point game.
• Zene added 15 points and sophomore Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Academy) had 12.
• Senior Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./Old Lyme) had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while classmate Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) had five points and a team-high nine rebounds.
• Adusei also tied with classmate David Perez-Miralles (Miami, Fla./Riviera Prep) with four assists and three steals.
• The Judges had their second-worst 3-point shooting night of the season, hitting just 24.1% (7-29). With Otoo connecting on 5-of-7 from downtown, the rest of the Judges combined for 2-22 (9.1%).
• Brandeis's 33.8% shooting overall (23-68) was also their second-lowest figure of the season.
• Emory was paced by Knight, who scored 20 points, while Cale Martens added 18 points.
• Shanahan finished with a double-double of 14 points and game-high 12 rebounds.
• Emory won the battle inside, outrebounding Brandeis, 44-41, and outscoring them in the paint, 30-18.
• The previous four meetings between the two teams had been decided by eight points or less, including two overtime games in Waltham.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will face the University of Rochester on Sunday at 12 noon. Emory will meet #13 NYU in a top 25 showdown in New York at the same time.
• Brandeis and Emory will meet next Friday evening in Atlanta.