The men's basketball team could not quite get over the hump yet again this past weekend, falling 74-66 on the road to Case Western Reserve University on Friday and 77-75 to Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday. With the pair of losses, the Judges drop to a 9-9 record and just a 1-6 mark in University Athletic Association play.

On Sunday, the first half was an up-and-down affair. Both teams shot the ball well and limited their turnovers. Forward Ishmael Kalilou '15 and guard Ben Bartoldus '14 got it going for Brandeis, scoring 10 and nine points, respectively, in the half, while CMU freshman forward Jack Serbin led the way for the Tartans with 17 points in the half.

Solid play on offense for both teams resulted in a 41-41 tie at the midpoint of the game.

While the second half started slowly, the tempo of the game picked up toward the middle. The lead changed numerous times and both teams continued to make formidable offensive runs.

With two minutes and 41 seconds to go, Brandeis found itself down 76-71. Two great plays by guard Robinson Vilmont '17 resulted in four consecutive points for the Judges, bringing them back into the game. A minute later, the Judges had a chance to take the lead, but Bartoldus turned it over before center Youri Dascy '14 committed a foul, sending Tartans senior forward Rob Mohen to the line. He proceeded to convert one of his two free throws.

With 35 seconds left, the Judges were down 77-75 with the ball.

Bartoldus commented on the ensuing play.

"We were trying to run twirl, and get either [guard] Gabe [Moton '14] a post-up or [guard] Derek [Retos '14] a three," he said. "We thought a switch was going to occur having Gabe in the post with a smaller guard but the big switched and Derek was over-played on the hand off. As a result, the play broke off and we essentially freelanced until we called a timeout with 2.4 seconds to go."

Unfortunately for the Judges, guard Moton could not convert on two chances at the rim, leading to Brandeis' third straight loss.

Moton and Bartoldus tied for team-high honors on offense with 15 points apiece. Guard Colby Smith '16 added 11 off the bench while forward Connor Arnold '14 had six boards off the bench to lead the team.

Retos has been a big part of the Judges offense this season, but he struggled to find his shot over the course of the weekend.

Retos was held scoreless on zero-for-seven shooting in both games. Bartoldus pointed to this as a big reason why the Judges came away empty-handed.

"It had a big time effect on the offense," he said. "Derek is an intricate part of our system and this weekend our opponents were able to defend him very well. As a result the tempo of our offense was altered."

The outcome of Friday's game against the Spartans proved to be eerily similar to Sunday's game. The game started out with a quick pace and had many lead changes. However, unlike Sunday, the Judges took a 31-29 lead into halftime.

The Spartans charged ahead two-thirds of the way through the second half, extending the lead to 70-58 with 1:26 remaining. Brandeis made a quick run to bring it to a respectable lead, but the effort proved to be too little, too late.

Moton and Bartoldus again led the charge, contributing 17 points apiece. Forward Alex Stoyle '14 had a big game for the Judges with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Bartoldus commented on the team's overall play on Friday.


"We came out with a lot of good energy, executed our offense and defense well," he said. "Down the stretch they were able to convert, while we struggled to put the ball in the basket."

The Judges return home for a four game home stand, starting with a rematch against Case on Friday night and CMU on Sunday.