Daniel Oren '27

Box Score

Carnegie Mellon CMU 13-11,4-9 UAA

Brandeis BR 14-10,5-8 UAA

Carnegie Mellon CMU

13-11,4-9 UAA

Final

Feb. 23, 2025

Brandeis BR

14-10,5-8 UAA

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Carnegie Mellon CMU	45	46	91
Brandeis BR	44	39	83

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/23/2025 4:49:00 PM | Adam Levin '94

After 26 lead changes and 15 ties, CMU prevails, 91-83

WALTHAM, Mass. – In a wild game that featured 15 ties and 26 lead changes, the visiting Carnegie Mellon University Tartans closed the game on a 10-2 over the final 2:47 to earn a University Athletic Association road win over the Brandeis University men's basketball team today.

TEAM RECORDS

Brandeis, 14-10, 5-8 UAA.
Carnegie Mellon, 13-11, 4-9 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The game was tight from the first tip, as neither team opened up a lead of more than two possessions until the end.
In the first half, CMU's largest advantage was an early five-point margin at 12-7 that they still maintained at 17-12 with 12:15 to go.
Brandeis went on an 11-0 run with reserves in the game over the next three-plus minutes to take their largest lead, 23-17, on a pair of free throws by senior Robert Watson III (Cleveland, Ohio/Nordonia).
The Tartans answered with a 7-0 run of their own thanks to a pair of steals that led to easy buckets.
The lead changed hands eight more times in the last seven minutes with CMU taking a 45-44 lead into the locker room thanks to a late RJ Holmes 3-pointer.
CMU's Justin Allen tallied 21 first-half points, while Holmes had 12, counteracting 17 from Brandeis's Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham Acad.) and 12 from junior Elias Rodl (Berlin, Germany/Schulund Leistungssportzentrum Berlin).
The second half was more of the same, with the lead trading hands 14 more times with nine ties.
Brandeis opened up the first two-possession lead of the second half on a pair of free throws by junior Jake Bender (Scituate, R.I./St. George's School) and a Watson lay-up that made it 70-66 with just over nine minutes elapsed in the period.
CMU battled back, and took their first four-point lead of the second half when Allen hit a pair of free throw with 4:32 showing that made it 81-77 in favor of the Tartans.
Harris scored the game's next four points, with a mid-range jumper tying the game at 81-all with 3:32 on the clock.
The Judges got a stop on the next possession when Allen was called for an offensive foul, but they couldn't convert.
A Holmes jumper on Tartans' next possession put the visitors up for good, and he found Isaac Higgs cutting the basket to make it a four-point game, 85-81, with 1:25 left.
Rodl responded with a fade-away jumper out of a timeout that got Brandeis back within two, but Holmes responded with another bucket with 42 second showing. Harris missed on his attempt to cut into the lead, and CMU's Buckley DeJardin scored on a back-cut with under 20 seconds to go to ice the contest.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Harris finished with 26 point and Rodl added 16, but it wasn't enough to counter 32 points by Allen and 26 by Holmes.
Bender added 14 for the Judges, while DeJardin had 12 as their teams' third scorers.
Rodl had seven rebounds, while Harris and first-year Alex Zakheim (Bergenfield, N.J./Perkiomen, Pa.) each grabbed six. Holmes with nine, DeJardin (8) and Allen (7) led the Tartans, but Brandeis had the 40-33 team advantage.
Bender led all players with six assists, while Nolan Casey had five for the visitors.
Holmes paced the CMU defense with three steals and two blocked shots.
The Tartans outshot Brandeis, 52.1% (37-71) to 42.6% (29-68) for the game, while also winning the turnover battle, 13-6.

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