WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team flourished with strong offense and continuous momentum, earning a 90-79 win over Case Western Reserve on Sunday afternoon in a UAA matchup at the Red Auerbach Arena. The Judges never trailed, using efficient shooting, timely responses to Spartan runs, and balanced scoring to close out the home victory.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 12-6, 5-2 UAA.
• Case Western, 9-9, 1-6 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Judges came out strong from the beginning with baskets from graduate student Aedan Using (Old Lyme, Conn./ Old Lyme) and sophomore Alex Zakheim (Bergenfield, N.J./ Perkiomen, Pa.) to take a 4-0 lead within the first 2 minutes.
• Their strong offense continued through led by senior Elias Rodl (Berlin, Germany/ Schulund Leistungssportzentrum Berlin) with 6 baskets in a row for the Judges, from inside, beyond the arc, and at the line to extend the lead 16-9.
• However, the Spartans had an offensive spark as well, including two 3-pointers by Matthew Ellis that closed the gap to only one point, 20-19, with 9:02 left on the clock.
• Brandeis answered with timely baskets from Rodl and Using to stay in control. Free throws late in the half helped the Judges hold strong, and they took a 41–35 lead into the break.
• The Judges' momentum carried into the second half, including four 3-pointers coming from Zakheim, graduate student DJ Courtney (Miami, Fla./ Christopher Columbus), and Using, pushing the lead back to double figures with 16:10 left on the clock.
• The Spartans made several runs behind Ethan Edwards and Alex Vincent, cutting the deficit to as few as three points, but each surge was met with a quick response from the Judges.
• A 3-pointer from Using at the 3:26 mark and a basket by sophomore Ryan Weiss (Hewlett, N.Y./North Broward Prep) steadied Brandeis as the clock wound down. Zakheim, Using, and Courtney sealed the win at the free-throw line in the final minutes, and the Judges closed out a 90–79 victory to cap the home UAA matchup.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Judges were led by Zakheim, who poured in a game-high 28 points, while Rodl followed with 23 points. 
• Using added 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for a double-double, and Courtney chipped in nine points to go along with a team-best five assists.
• Case Western Reserve was led by Alex Vincent with 21 points, while Ethan Edwards (a grad student who played for three years at Brandeis) and Matthew Ellis added 17 and 16 points respectively. Andrew Fox rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Spartans with 11.
• Brandeis was highly efficient on the offensive end, shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range (10-of-24). The Judges also made the most of their trips to the line, converting 20-of-26 free throws (76.9 percent). CWRU finished at 47.8 percent shooting overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
• While the Spartans held an edge in offensive rebounding (10-4) and second-chance points (17-2), the Judges controlled the game throughout, leading for the entire game. Brandeis took care of the ball with just six turnovers, turned defense into offense with advantages in fast-break points (15-8) and points off turnovers (13-7), and used balanced contributions from multiple players to secure the 90-79 victory.
• With the victory, the Judges improved to 20–11 all-time at home against Case Western Reserve.

POST-GAME INTERVIEW

UP NEXT

• The Judges head to Pittsburgh to face Carnegie Mellon University once again on Friday Feb. 6, at 5:30pm, hoping to extend their winning streak to 4 games.