From D3Hoops.com
In a week full of surprises, Brandeis might have sent the biggest shockwave across the Division III landscape by clipping No. 2 Amherst, 78-58, on the road earlier this week. Winning was impressive but beating Amherst by 20 points while scoring a season-high point total is the real eye-opener.
“I’ll be honest, I knew we were moving in the right direction and that our record was deceiving,” Brandeis head coach Brian Meehan said. “I was really surprised about the way we went about winning the game. We played at a much higher level than I thought we were ready for. We went in to that game with a lot confidence. I don’t know it where it came from. It’s a really big step forward for us.”
Brandeis (3-5 overall) finished the first half of its schedule with some serious momentum having won three of their four previous contests.
Competing in the powerful UAA with the league standings resembling the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, the Judges feature 10 players that are either freshmen or sophomores.
They all figured in the win over Amherst. Brandeis was led by 17 points from sophomore center John Powell, who was 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-5 from the line. Sophomore forward Tim Reale finished with 16 points as he hit 5-of-8 with a 3-pointer and was 5-of-7 from the line. The duo scored 21 of their 33 points in the second half as Brandeis outscored Amherst, 38-24.
Freshman forward Jordan Cooper finished with 15 points, 12 coming in the first half. Freshman Carlin Haymon made the most of his minutes by scoring 12 points in 15 minutes off the bench, including three huge 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Robinson Vilmont scored nine of his 11 points in the second half.
Even though the Judges started the season with four straight losses, they were in every game. They dropped a pair of two-point decisions to UMass-Dartmouth and Becker. Prior to its win over Amherst, Brandeis claimed a 52-50 victory over Tufts despite shooting 30 percent. Powell recorded a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) to lead the Judges in the win over Tufts.
The task of properly preparing for the season was made difficult by the numerous injuries that kept key players out most of preseason.
Meehan spent a majority of the preseason looking at injury reports instead of scouting reports. Cooper had an ankle injury in which he missed three and a half weeks of preseason. Point guard Colby Smith missed all of preseason while battling mononucleosis. Robinson Vilmont had a deep thigh contusion with fluid buildup that kept him out of the Judges’ first four games. He returned to help Brandeis defeat Framingham State for its first victory of the season.
“I have a lot of kids who know how to run the scoreboard,” Meehan quipped. “They know more about that then the plays and sets we run. I was less rattled with our 0-4 start. Our biggest problem is we had so many injuries and we couldn’t get them on the court. It wasn’t a fun preseason.”
Then when he thought he had a full team, he received the news that two key players would be lost for the season with injuries. Hayman broke his orbital bone and Kevin Troutman ruptured his Achilles. Despite those setbacks, Brandeis has positioned itself to enjoy a strong second half of the season.
A transfer from Division II Bloomfield, the 6-8 Powell had a week to remember as he averaged 16.5 points on 56 percent shooting. Even though his favorite place on campus is the library, he has enjoyed his time on hardwood lately. Powell has found his groove as he has scored 10 or more points in four straight games.
Brandeis has gotten the job this season by committee as no player averages double figures. Meehan isn’t worried about the break slowing down his teams’ momentum from beating Amherst.
“It’s OK,” Meehan said of the break. “It will give a lot of guys’ time to catch their breath and they’ll use it the right way. Plus it will make them more excited about coming back and we have a good start point heading into the second semester.”