WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team cut a 21-point halftime deficit to four with five minutes remaining against #14 NYU, but the Violets hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers to hang on to defeat the Judges, 74-68, and claim a share of the 2024 University Athletic Association title in the process.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 14-11, 5-9 UAA.
- NYU: 20-5, 10-4 UAA, ranked #14 in Division III by D3hoops.com.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Violets controlled play in the first half. Both teams got off to a sluggish start, with Brandeis claiming its last lead at 6-5 on a bucket by sophomore Matthew Cadogan (Weston, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) with 14:24 on the clock.
- NYU's Quinn Clark answered with a bucket, and after Brandeis's Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Acad.) tied it at 7-all with 1-of-2 from the line, the visitors' Michael Savarino connected from downtown to give them the lead for good.
- It kicked off a 19-4 that was capped when Savarino hit another 3-pointer to make it 26-11 with 7:12 left.
- Brandeis clawed back within 10 at 34-24 when Ryan Power (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) hit a trifecta with 3:04 remaining, but NYU remained deadly from long distance, hitting three more 3-pointers with a steal and a lay-up at the buzzer to close on an 11-0 run and take a 45-24 lead into the locker room.
- Edwards led Brandeis with seven points, all from the line, while Savarino had 12 for NYU, all from beyond the arc. The Violets hit 9-of-16 from downtown (56%) in the first 20 minutes, compared to 1-of-10 for the Judges (10%).
- The Judges countered NYU's strong finish to the first half with a 10-0 run of their own to start the second. Sophomore Jake Bender (Hope, R.I./St. George's School) hit a 3-pointer with less than two minutes gone to cut the Judges' deficit to 12 at 45-33.
- The Violets pushed the lead back to 16 on another Savarino 3-ball that made it 53-37 with 14:39 to go.
- Brandeis had another run, scoring 16 of the next 22 points to close within six, 59-53, on a pair of Edwards free throws with 8:20 to go.
- The Judges had three 3-pointers in the run, and after NYU answered Edwards' foul shots with two of their own, the Brandeis sophomore dialed long distance to close Brandeis within five at 61-56 with 7:27 on the clock.
- With just over five minutes left in regulation, Brandeis junior Gilbert Otoo (Baldwinsville, Md./St. Vincent Palotti) scored on a nice feed from senior Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./Old Lyme) that got Brandeis within four at 64-60.
- The Judges looked to get a stop on their next possession, but NYU came up with the ball on a scramble after a missed lay-up, and Savarino hit a momentum-swinging 3-pointer from the top of the key just as the shot clock expired to put the Violets up by seven, 67-60, with 4:28 to go.
- After a couple of empty possessions, Bender hit another 3-pointer on a feed from Using to get Brandeis to within four again with 3:16 on the clock at 67-63, but Savairo dialed long distance again, his seventh of the game, from the left corner with 2:27 to go.
- Both teams had two more empty possessions before an Otoo 3-pointer with 48.9 seconds left got Brandeis back within four, but the Violets hit their foul shots down the stretch to keep the Judges at bay.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Brandeis was paced by Otoo, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, shooting 6-of-13 with a pair of 3-pointers after the break.
- Edwards added 14 points off the bench, thanks to a 9-of-10 performance from the line.
- Senior Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) added nine points, while Using stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, 10 rebounds, five assists a block and a steal.
- Power also had five assists in the game.
- Savarino was the start for the Violets, finishing with 21 points, all from 3-point range, where he shot 7-of-12. He also had 10 rebounds.
- Clark also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards, while Zay Freeney added 19 points.
- Spencer Freedman led the Violets with five assists and two steals.
- Despite cooling off in the second half, while Brandeis improved, NYU still outshot the Judges, 48% to 37%, including 42% to 38% from 3-point range.
- NYU outrebounded Brandeis, 42-31, including 9-7, on the offensive glass to earn a 16-10 margin in second-chance points.
SENIOR DAY
- Before the game, Brandeis recognized their four seniors: Adusei, Using, Power and David Perez-Miralles (Miami, Fla./Riviera Prep). All except Power will return next year as graduate students for the Judges. They also honored team manager Jackson Wu.