The men’s basketball team went 0-2 this past weekend, losing to Carnegie Mellon University 78-70 on Sunday and 74-72 against Case Western Reserve on Friday. The Judges fell to 9-11 overall and 3-6 in University Athletic Association play.


Judges 70, Carnegie 78


Brandeis could not hold onto its seven point halftime lead on Sunday.


The Judges did not score until a layup from forward Jordan Cooper ’18, with 14:42 left in the first half, cut the Carnegie Mellon lead to 5-2. The Judges trailed 12-8 when guard Michael McReynolds ’19 hit a 3-point shot which started a 15-4 run for Brandeis to give them a seven point lead.


After a pair of Carnegie free-throws, Brandeis led by only three points with 1:30 remaining. However, a free throw from Cooper and a 3-point shot from guard Jack Fay ’17 gave the Judges a 31-24 lead at halftime. Brandeis held Carnegie to 28 percent shooting from the field in the first half.


Brandeis could not replicate that defensive effort in the second half. The Judges allowed 54 points in the second half as the Tartans shot 67.9 percent from the field.


The Judges started the half hitting a couple shots, and a layup from guard Colby Smith ’16 gave them a 40-31 advantage. The Tartans then broke the game open, going on a 23-5 run to lead 54-46 with about 8:30 remaining in the game. The Judges fought back and took a 57-56 lead on a jump shot from Smith. Then, with five minutes left, Smith hit a 3-point shot to give Brandeis a 60-58 lead. The Tartans scored the next six points and led 68-63 with 2:22 remaining. Brandeis could not get any closer as Carnegie hit seven free throws in the final stretch to win the game.


Smith led the Judges with 21 points, grabbing six rebounds and tallying two assists. Cooper scored 19 points to go along with five rebounds and one assist.


Judges 72, Case 74


The Judges dropped a close contest to Case on Friday evening. The game featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes.


Brandeis got off to a good start and led 10-2 after a free throw from guard Robinson Vilmont ’17 four minutes into the game. Case then went on a 9-0 run to take a lead, but the Judges came right back and held a 18-13 advantage, the biggest lead of the game, with 9:29 remaining in the first half.


The Spartans led 33-30 late in the first half, but a steal by Vilmont led to a buzzer-beater layup that cut the lead to 33-32 at halftime.


The second half featured more back-and-forth action. Brandeis took their first lead of the second half at 52-51 on a free-throw from Smith. After Case regained the lead moments later, Vilmont tied the game at 55-55 on a jump shot.


Still, Brandeis trailed 70-66 with less than three and a half minutes remaining in the game. Center John Powell ‘17 scored the next four points to tie the game with roughly two minutes left.


The Judges got a stop on defense on the next possession, but the Spartans stole the ball after a Brandeis defensive rebound. Junior guard Javier Alvarez drew a foul and hit both free-throw attempts to give Case a 72-70 lead with 55.1 seconds left. Cooper tied the game on a jump shot on the next possession with 34.7 seconds remaining.


The Spartans were forced to call a timeout on their next possession with 17.1 seconds left. Following the timeout, Case forward Eric Black drew a foul with the shot clock winding down and hit both free throws to take a 74-72 lead. The Judges called timeout, advanced the ball to halfcourt and called another timeout with 4.3 seconds left.


On the final play, Vilmont drove left and shot a jumper at the buzzer that hit two sides of the rim before going out.


Cooper led the Judges with a team-high 18 points, while Powell and Vilmont added 15 and 11 points, respectively. The Judges shot 50 percent from the field and limited Case to 43.3 percent shooting from the field.


Brandeis returns to UAA play to take on the University of Rochester on Friday at 8 p.m. and then Emory University on Sunday at noon.