Despite ending the first half against Washington University in St. Louis trailing by just 11 points, the men's basketball team struggled the rest of the game and was unable to make a comeback as WashU defeated the Judges 70-36.
The loss brings the Judges down to 12-3, 2-3 in University Athletic Association play, after defeating the University of Chicago Friday night 59-53.
Just under 8 minutes into last Sunday's game, the teams were tied 12-12 after a 3-pointer from guard Ben Bartoldus '14. But the Bears went on a 21-10 run to take control of the first half. The Judges shot 37.5 percent from the field and were 2-8 from downtown before the break.
"We came out of the game with very little energy," coach Brian Meehan said. "When you're young and inexperienced, it's the energy that's going to make up for the mistakes. But today, we didn't have any energy right from the get-go."
Early in the second half, the Judges were able to hold their ground against the Bears. By the 11th minute into the half, the Judges had scored 13 points compared to the Bears' 17. But from there, the Bears pulled away while the Judges suffered from poor shooting and hit just one free throw for the remainder of the game. The Judges finished with a 24.1-percent field goal percentage, going just 3-16 from downtown.
WashU continued to play consistent offense into the second half as the Judges struggled, shooting 14.7 percent from the field in the second half, including 1-8 from 3-point range. The Judges were within striking distance thanks to a jump shot by guard Anthony Trapasso '13, which brought the score to 50-35 with 9 minutes, 17 seconds left in the game. But WashU finished the game on a 20-1 run.
"We missed wide-open shots and we didn't respond well to the struggle," Meehan said. "I'm very disappointed and surprised, because this team typically fights their way back and finds a way to win. Much to my dismay, we accepted the fact that we were having a bad day, and we just fell apart. We never showed any sort of fight, and that's the disappointing thing, because we really pride ourselves on always giving an effort, and that just didn't happen today."
The Judges were led by center Youri Dascy '14 with 8 points, who was 4-4 from the field, and center Wouter van der Eng '13, who had a career-high five rebounds in just 7 minutes. Guard Ruben Kanya '14 had the second-most points on the team with 6.
The Bears' bench outscored the Judges' 21-10. Guard/forward Vytas Kriskus '12, who leads the Judges in scoring this season, was 0-4 from 3-point range and contributed all of his 5 points from free throws.
"The main problem was on the defensive end," Kanya said. "We had major issues covering their ball screens, which led to poor execution on the offensive end. The loss is due to the lack of defense, which resulted in frustration on the offensive end. As a team, we struggled on defense, didn't knock down shots, and we couldn't get what we wanted out of our plays."
Last Friday night, the Judges defeated Chicago 59-53. Brandeis' largest lead in the first half was 6 points, with Bartoldus securing two free throws just before the break to make the score 31-25.
The Judges stretched the lead to as many as 14 points in the second half, but the Maroons managed to pull within 1 point on a 3-pointer by junior guard Matt Johnson. The Judges continued to play well and never relinquished the lead.
Bartoldus led the Judges with a career-high 20 points, shooting two for four from beyond the arc and connecting on five of his 10 shots overall. Kriskus had a game-high 10 rebounds, and guard Tyrone Hughes '12 had seven assists and three steals.
The Judges' bench was also a key factor in the victory, outscoring the Maroons' bench 24-8. Forward Alex Stoyle '14 had 7 points and Kriskus and Trapasso added 6 points each.
"It was a total team effort," Meehan said. "Anthony [Trapasso] was injured but performed off the bench. Ben Bartoldus broke out of a slump; he got to the rim a lot of times, and that was really important. Christian Yemga '11 did a good job defensively, and Tyrone [Hughes] ran the offense well. We moved the ball really well tonight. Offensively, we were very aggressive. Against a good team, that was an important win."
The Judges have two home matches this weekend. They will play Emory University on Friday and the University of Rochester on Sunday.