WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team finished up its 2024-25 season today with a regular-season contest against rivals NYU, ranked #2 in Division III, and the Violets prevailed, 94-76, despite a valiant comeback attempt in the second half.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis, 14-11, 5-9 UAA.
- NYU, 24-1, 13-1 UAA, ranked #2 in Division III by d3hoops.com.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The early first half saw three ties and six lead changes. Brandeis's biggest lead was an early 5-2 advantage on a 3-pointer by graduate student Sam Adusei (Worcester, Mass./St. George's School).
- The Judges took their final lead on a steal and lay-up by junior Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y./Woodstock Acad.) that made it 12-11 with 15:13 to go.
- The Violets responded by scoring the game's next 10 points, taking a 21-12 lead on Chuma Oyigbo's 3-pointer at the 12:28 mark.
- Brandeis grad student Robert Watson III (Cleveland, Ohio/Nordonia) had a lay-up to briefly half the NYU momentum, but the visitors hit back-to-back 3-pointers to go ahead, 27-14, just before the midpoint of the stanza.
- Brandeis responded 12-3 run of their own, getting back within 30-26 on a Watson jumper on a feed from Adusei with 5:13 left.
- Adusei connected from downtown with just over 90 seconds left in the stanza to keep the margin at four points, 38-34, before NYU's Tristan How's lay-up gave the visitors a 40-34 lead at the break.
- How led all players with 11 points and seven rebounds before the break, while Brandeis senior Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham) had 10 points.
- The Violets opened the second half on a 10-2 run over the first three-and-a-half minutes, going up 50-36 on a Jack Stone putback.
- The visitors extended the run to 19-6 to push their lead to 19 after Brock Susko's 3-pointer with 15:38 remaining.
- Trailing 87-60 with 6:14 left in the game, the Judges did not go quietly, as a Harris three-point play kicked off a 15-0 scoring run that saw first-year Ryan Weiss (Hewlett, N.Y./North Broward Prep) bury a corner 3-pointer with 2:50 to go to cut NYU's lead to 87-75.
- Brandeis had a chance to get back within single digits after stop, but could not covert, and NYU pulled away with seven of the game's final eight points to take the 18-point win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Judges put four players in double figures in scoring, paced by Harris 21 points. He hit 8-of-13 overall, 2-of-4 from 3-point range and all three of his free throws.
- Harris ended his Brandeis career with 1,153 points, 22nd on the Judges' all-time list.
- Weiss netted a career-high 14 points, 12 coming in the second half.
- Adusei and grad student David Perez-Miralles (Miami, Fla./Riviera Prep) each scored 10 points.
- Adusei led the Judges with six rebounds and five assists.
- NYU had five different players score in double digits, with Susko leading all players with 27 points on 10-of-15 from the floor, 5-of-9 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the line.
- How stuffed the stat sheet for the visitors with 15 points and game-highs of 13 rebounds and eight assists. He also tied with three other players with three steals.
- Brandeis had a slim 32-31 edge in rebounding, but NYU's advantage in turnovers, 16-13, led to a 27-19 margin in points off those miscues.
- The Violets also outshot Brandeis, 57% (37-65) to 45% (29-64), including 44% (14-32) to 32% (9-28) from downtown.
SENIOR DAY
- Before the game, Brandeis honored its four graduating players
- The Judges finished their season with a 14-11 record, 5-9 in the UAA, tied for fifth place.
