WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team suffered its first defeat of the 2024-25 season today, as the Judges were held to season-lows in points and field goal percentage in a 77-63 loss to their rivals from Babson College.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 5-1.
• Babson, 3-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half featured two ties and four lead changes in the early going.
• Brandeis took a 16-15 lead with 11:09 left in the first on a steal and lay-up by junior guard Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Acad.).
• Babson went on the decisive run over the next eight-plus minutes, outscoring Brandeis 17-5 to go ahead by 11 on a jumper in the paint by Felix Kloman, who scored seven points in the streak.
• The Beavers were up 10 late after a Nate Amado jumper with 1:15 to go before the break.
• Both teams had a chance to score before a late steal and buzzer-beating bucket by Brandeis senior Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) got the Judges within 39-31 at halftime.
• Kloman led all players with 10 points at halftime, while Brandeis graduate transfer Jai Deshpande (San Carlos, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) had seven for the Judges in his first game back after missing the previous two games.
• Brandeis scored the first four points of the second half to close within 39-35 on a dunk by senior Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham Acad.).
• The Beavers responded with the game's next nine points, five of which came from the free-throw line, and five scored by Tyler Lauder, whose bucket with 16:31 to go put the visitors ahead, 48-35.
• The Judges clawed their way back into the game thanks to five-straight points by Harris and a 3-pointer by first-year Elias Rodl (Berlin, Germany/Schulund Leistungssportzentrum Berlin) that cut the deficit to four at the 8:41 mark.
• Brandeis got a stop and had an open look for three from the corner by Rodl that went half-way down and popped out, keeping it a two-possession game.
• The Beavers' Amado answered with a jumper, and Brandeis saw another trifecta rim out as the visitors kept it at least a three-possession game the rest of the way.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Brandeis put four players in double figures in scoring, paced by Harris for the sixth game in a row. He scored 17 points on 6-of-10 from the field, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 2-of-2 from the line.
• Deshpande added 12 points, while Rodl had 11 off the bench and Edwards had 10.
• Rodl also led the Judges with six rebounds, while Adusei had a team-high four assists.
• Babson's Kloman led all players with 22 points on 6-of-13 overall, 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the line.
• Amado registered a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds while also grabbing five steals. Timmy O'Toole finished with 12 points.
• The Beavers held Brandeis to their lowest scoring output of the season by 22 points, while limiting the Judges to a season-low 37.9% from the field (22-58) while shooting 47.3% (26-55), the second-highest performance by a Brandeis opponent.
• The Brandeis bench outscored the visitors, 23-14, but Babson offset it with the edge in rebounding (42-27), points off turnovers (15-13) and second-chance points (13-9). The Beavers also controlled the paint, 36-24 and outscored the Judges, 19-10, from the free-throw line.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis returns to action on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. against Framingham State University.