WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis men's basketball sophomore Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock) put the Judges on his back with a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the second half when the team cut a 14-point deficit to two, but the hosts couldn't get over the hump in a 61-52 University Athletic Association loss to the University of Rochester today in Red Auerbach Arena.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 11-7, 2-5 UAA.
• Rochester: 9-9, 3-4 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half was a relatively tight affair. Rochester jumped out to leads of 7-0 and 18-9, but Brandeis battled back, tying things at 22-all on a 3-pointer by first-year reserve guard Kyle Walters (Mableton, Ga./Lovett School) and taking a 27-26 lead on a steal and dunk by senior center Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./Old Lyme).
• That would be the last lead of the game for the Judges, as UR' Logan Jagodzinski answered with a 3-pointer and a lay-up to put the visitors back up by four, 31-27, with 3:25 left. The Yellowjackets would carry that four-point lead into the locker room, 33-29.
• The Rochester lead was still four points after a pair of Edwards free throws made it 43-39 with 14:21 to go in the second half.
• The 'Jackets then held Brandeis scoreless for the next 4:19, taking their largest lead of the game at 53-39 on a Mitchell Kershner lay-up with just over 10 minutes left.
• At that point, the Brandeis defense stepped up, as the Judges scored 13 of the next 14 points over a span of 6:06. Rochester missed its only two field-goal attempts in that span, while the Judges forced six turnovers.
• The Judges climbed to within 54-52 after sophomore Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Academy) hit a pair of free throws with 3:10 on the clock.
• Brandeis got stops on the next three Rochester possessions, but couldn't take advantage to knot the game. UR eventually got an offensive rebound and Jagodzinki converted with a 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game with 56 seconds remaining, and the Judges could get no closer.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Edwards had a game-high with 23 points, hitting 8-of-16 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point range and 5-of-8 from the line. He also had six rebounds and two assists, tied for team-high with two assists.
• It marked his second 20-point game of the season and the seventh of his career.
• Junior Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti) scored nine points and Walters had two 3-pointers to finish with six points, but no other Judge had more than four points.
• Using had a fine performance on the defensive end, with team-highs of seven rebounds, a career-high-tying four blocked shots and three steals.
• UR was paced by Matt Wiele, who scored 12 of his team-high 20 points in the second half. Jagodzinski had 18, 13 coming in the first half.
• Tomiwa Adetseoye led all players with eight assists, while Wiele's four assists were a game-ihgh.
• Rochester outshot Brandeis from the field, 47% (24-51) to 30% (17-57), including 53% (8-15) to 30% (7-23) from 3-point range.
• The Yellowjackets also owned a slight rebounding edge, 36-32, and outscored Brandeis in the paint, 30-18.
• Brandeis forced 19 turnovers while committing only 13, leading to an 18-14 edge in points off those miscues.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis will head to Atlanta next Friday evening to take on #20 Emory, then they will face Rochester again next Sunday at noon in New York.