This weekend, the men’s basketball team traveled to New York University for their final University Athletic Association conference game. The team went in hoping to finish its season on a high while also putting a dent in NYU’s NCAA Tournament hopes. 

The team ended up losing 75-90, bringing   this season to a mark of 9-16, with a 4-10 record in the UAA. This loss also gave them a split in the season series with NYU. 

Regarding the matchup, guard Nate Meehan ’18 said, “The game on Saturday was really tough. We had beat them earlier in the year, and we were looking forward to hopefully sweeping the series against a really talented UAA team."

Throughout the game, the Judges struggled to try to impose themselves, with the team never able to get a hold of the lead. The team had three of its starters end the game with double figures. 

Forward Jordan Cooper ’18 led the point’s board for the team with  a total of 18. 

He managed to make 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, 1-of-4 from past the three point line, and 5-of-18 shots overall. His lead was followed by forward Tim Reale ’17, who contributed 14 points with five of his 10 attempts being converted and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

Guard Robinson Vilmont ’17 was the final player to get into double digits with points, finishing with 10 points. The team’s leader in assists was guard Colby Smith ’16 with four while Cooper and Vilmont tied the team for rebounds with five. Cooper also finished his very impressive game with two blocked shots and two steals. 

The men were let down, especially because of their lack of clinical basketball. They had a conversion rate of 40.6 percent, compared to NYU’s 52.5. They also had almost half of NYU’s rebound numbers, with 26 compared to NYU’s 48.

The team took 17 turnovers from NYU but only managed to convert that to 22 points. NYU seemed to be playing a sloppy game; however, Brandeis could not take advantage of their carelessness. 

On the season, Meehan remarked,  “Overall, I would say the season was definitely a frustrating experience for all of us. Only getting 9 wins and losing several really close games is tough [for us].”

He added that he thinks the team gained “a lot of experience though considering we are such a young team and that is important.”

The Judges finished the season a disappointing seven games under .500. The year did not look to go this poorly, as it started out promising for the young squad. 

After initially losing their first four opening games, the Judges went on a tear, winning five of the next six games. 

This included an incredible 20-point road victory against the then No. 2 team in Division III, Amherst College. 

The team played solidly in the beginning of conference play, going 2-2 in the first four games. 

From there it would turn ugly when the Judges would lose five straight UAA contests. The worst being a 28-point home defeat to a then struggling Rochester University team. The Judges were set back by injuries, particularly to center John Powell ’17. Before getting hurt, Powell led the squad in both the scoring and rebounding categories. 

The rest of the team failed to step up and fill the void left by his injury after he went down. 

The team will now prepare itself for next season, where it will only be without one current player, guard Connor Arnold ’14, M.A. ’15. 

With so many close games this season and almost every player on the team being a first-year or sophomore, the team will look forward to having more experience the upcoming season.