ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team overcame a 20-point second-half deficit today as the Judges earned a season split with the University of Rochester, taking a 75-72 victory in the Palestra today. WIth the win, the Judges surpassed their win total from a year ago with five games left to play. 

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 13-7, 4-5 UAA.
• Rochester: 9-11, 3-6 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game was a tale of two halves. The Judges took an early 12-9 lead on a driving lay-up by senior Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) with just under five minutes gone in the game
• Rochester answered with a 9-2 run and the Yellowjackets maintained the lead for the rest of the stanza.
• UR shot 65% from the floor (19-29) in the first 20 minutes, leading by as many as 15 points before taking 45-31 lead into the locker room. They held Brandeis to 40% (12-30), including just one field goal over the final five minutes of the period.
• Senior Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./Old Lyme) and sophomore Jake Bender (Hope, R.I./St. George's School) each had eight points for the Judges, while Logan Jagodzinski had 10 and Matt Wiele eight for Rochester.
• Nine different Yellowjackets hit field goals in the first half, compared to five for the Judges.
• Rochester opened the second half by scoring seven of the first eight points, taking their largest lead of the game at 52-32 on a pair of Tomiwa Adetosoye free throws with 17:49 left in the contest.
• Both teams had chances to either cut into or extend the lead over the next two minutes before Brandeis sophomore Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Acad.) connected from beyond the arc at the 16:02 mark to start the comeback. Classmate Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn./IMG Academy) also dialed long distance for a quick 6-0 run that made it 54-40.
• Brandeis extended their defensive pressure, and cut their deficit back to single digits when sophomore Matthew Cadogan (Weston, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) converted a traditional three-point play with 12:13 on the clock, making it 54-47 in favor of the Yellowjackets.
• UR kept their lead at three possessions until Adusei got the rim twice in a row, getting Brandeis within 60-57 with 7:42 remaining.
• Another Adusei bucket got Brandeis within two points with 6:36 left, but UR kept Brandeis at bay until the final three minutes.
• Bender hit a second-chance trifecta with 2:56 on the clock after Adusei grabbed an offensive rebound, getting the Judges within 68-66, and after the 'Jackets were called for traveling, Zene hit a fade-away jumper to knot the game at 68-all with 2:05 to go.
• After the Judges got another stop, Bender connected on a jumper from the right side that gave Brandeis their first lead of the second half, 70-68, with 1:16 on the clock.
• Rochester knotted the game from the free-throw line with 48.9 seconds left, but Bender got around the corner for a lay-up that gave the Judges the lead for good with 20.5 seconds left, 72-70.
• On the ensuing possession, Brandeis senior David Perez-Miralles (Miami, Fla./Riviera Prep) drew a charge, and Using converted the ensuing two free throws to make it a four-point game with 13.9 to go.
• Rochester answered with a quick bucket, and Adusei hit 1-of-2 from the line with 5.7 seconds remaining for the final 75-72 score. UR called timeout and their ensuing play created a decent look to send the game to overtime, but the ball rattled off the rim, giving Brandeis the win.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Judges had a balanced scoring attack, with Adusei, Bender and Using each scoring 15 points, while Zene added 11.
• Using led  Brandeis with six rebounds, while Edwards and Adusei had three assists each. Edwards also had a game-high four steals.
• The Judges reversed their shooting and defensive woes from the first half, shooting 50% from the floor (15-30), while holding UR to just 32% (6-19). Brandeis also had a remarkable 12-3 turnover advantage in the second half, outscoring the hosts 24-2 off those miscues.
• The overall turnover battle was won by the Judges, 19-8, leading a 32-9 scoring advantage.
• Rochester's Jagodzinski tied for game-high honors with 15 points, while also leading all players with eight rebounds. He also dished three assists to top the home team.
• Corvin Oprea netted 14 points and had six boards off the bench, while Wiele had 12 points, only three coming in the second half.
• Brandeis and Rochester have now split the season series for the past five seasons, with three of those splits seeing the road teams win.
• Coupled with their win over Emory on Friday evening, Brandeis has won in Atlanta and Rochester for the first time since 2009, and the first time since the two teams have been road partners.

UP NEXT

• The Judges return home to face Carnegie Mellon next Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.