WALTHAM, Mass. – In a game that featured five ties and 11 lead changes, the Brandeis University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker tonight against Case Western Reserve University, 73-69, in a University Athletic Association contest in Red Auerbach Arena.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 14-9, 5-7 UAA.
• Case Western Reserve, 8-15, 4-8 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Brandeis got off to a good start in this one, scoring the first six points of the game and opening up an 18-8 lead 7:19 into the game on a bucket by grad student Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./Old Lyme).
• The Judges extended their lead to 11 points at 24-13 on a pair of Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham Acad.) free throws just over the midway point of the first.
• The Judges were still ahead by seven, 33-26, on a steal and a dunk by junior Elias Rodl (Berlin, Germany/Schulund Leistungssportzentrum Berlin) with 1:54 to go in the first
• Case closed the half on an 8-0 run, with Sam Trunley's lay-up giving the Spartans their first lead, 34-33, a lead they took into the locker room.
• Over the first 10 minutes of the second half, the lead traded hands 10 times.
• After a Rodl jumper tied the game at 54-all with 9:48 on the clock, CWRU took the lead for good on an Umar Rashid jumper and a 3-pointer by Charlie Fox on an assist by Rashid that made it 59-54 in favor of the Spartans.
• The Judges never got down by more than those five points, but they were unable to get over the hump despite getting several key stops while within one possession.
• Brandeis was within 71-69 when grad student Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School) hit a traditional three-point play with 1:23 remaining.
• Case's Trunley missed a 3-pointer, but Brandeis's Harris missed a 3-pointer to go ahead on the other end. He got his own rebound, but threw the ball away trying to get it to a teammate.
• Brandeis got another stop with the clock under 23 seconds left after Using got a defensive rebound, and the Judges elected to run a play without stopping the clock. Harris got open for a good look at a winning 3-pointer with the clock under seven seconds, but the shot was a bit too long and CWRU pulled down the rebound to clinch the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Brandeis's Harris and Rodl combined for 37 points, with Harris scoring 19 points and Rodl 18.
• Using led the Judges with nine rebounds, while Adusei and first-year Alex Zakheim (Haddonfield, N.J./Perkiomen, Pa.) each had five assists.
• CWRU put four players in double digits in scoring, with Trunley scoring 18 and Umar turning in a double-double performance with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Matthew Ellis led all bench scorers with 16 points, while Andrew Fox finished with 12 points.
• Trunley finished with four assists.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis will play host to Carnegie Mellon on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.