The men’s basketball team went on the road this week and dropped both of their games, losing to No. 14 Emory University on Friday and the University of Rochester on Sunday. Brandeis has now lost five straight games and seven of their last eight, bringing their record to 7-13 with only five games left to play in the season. 

Rochester 66, Judges 64 (OT)

On Sunday against the Yellowjackets, the Judges lost a close game 66-64 in the overtime period, after Rochester sophomore guard Sam Borst-Smith hit a runner down the lane with 6.9 seconds left in the game. Guard Colby Smith ’16 rushed the ball up the court and could not connect on what would have been the game-tying jump shot as time expired. 

Both teams got off to a slow start in the game, with the Yellowjackets holding a meager 5-2 lead with 14:38 left in the first half after a Borst-Smith three-pointer. Down 24-19 with 6:32 left in the half, the Judges went on an 11-1 run over the next three minutes and sixteen seconds led by guard Robinson Vilmont ’17, who had seven of the Judges’ 11 points in that span. Vilmont also set a new career-best with 23 points on the day.

“I took advantage of the open lanes they were giving me,” Vilmont said. “This allowed me to attack from different angles of the court to help my team stay in the game.”

The Judges took a six-point lead over the Yellowjackets going into halftime, but that lead would slowly dissipate as Rochester fought back at the start of the second half, taking a 50-48 lead with 9:39 left in the game.

From that point on, the teams combined for five ties and two lead changes as they went back and forth trying to secure a much-needed win in conference play. Vilmont supplied the game-tying free throws with 32 seconds to go, extending the contest into overtime. 

Both teams had trouble scoring in the overtime period, only managing four points each before Borst-Smith scored the game-winning basket and gave Rochester their ninth win of the year. 

No. 14 Emory 89 Judges 53

On Friday, the Judges never managed to put up a fight against Emory and lost by a large margin, 89-53. The Eagles grabbed the lead with 15:14 left in the first half and would not relinquish it the rest of the way. The Judges found themselves down in the contest by as many as 44 points, in what was a lopsided victory for the Eagles.

Brandeis shot a paltry 29.8 percent from the field—their worst of the season—compared to Emory’s 50.8 percent, and was dominated in every single statistical category. 

“These past two games we showed two types of effort,” Vilmont said. “In the Emory game we didn't have fight from the start of the game.”

For now, the Judges will have to take the rest of the season one game at a time and attempt to finish the year off on a positive note, even though the team has had a losing season. That starts on Friday at home against Carnegie Mellon University, as the Judges will try to put an end to their five-game losing streak.

“All we have to do to end this losing streak is stay focused on scouting, and also play hard in practice. We've been successful in the past when we did those two things,” Vilmont said.