From University of Rochester Athletics
The University of Rochester men's basketball team used a big second half run to defeat Brandeis University 67-56 on Sunday afternoon at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
The win is #7 Rochester's fourth straight as the Yellowjackets move to 17-1 on the season and 6-1 in the UAA. Brandeis drops to 6-11 overall and 2-5 in the conference. Rochester still sits one game out of first in the conference standings after Washington-St. Louis defeated Case Western Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
In the contest, UR started quick, jumping out to a 10-2 lead four minutes into the game. The Yellowjackets made five of their first eight shots from the floor, compared to Brandeis making just one of its first seven attempts.
The lead in the first half got to as big as nine after a Ryan Clamage old-fashioned 3-point play with 14:32 to go, but the visiting Judges ran off a 14-4 spurt to take their first lead of the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. Rochester's cold shooting started there, as the Yellowjackets just made 1-10 from the floor during the run which spanned seven and a half minutes.
Rochester was able to right the ship a bit, settling for a two-point halftime lead, despite making just 12-34 shots (35%) and 1-12 from behind the arc (8%). At intermission the Yellowjackets were up 30-28.
In the second half, Brandeis earned its biggest lead of the game, going up by two after a Tim Reale layup with 12:48 remaining, but Rochester would rally, going on a 16-0 run to break open the tight game. The 'Jackets found their stroke shooting in the stretch, hitting 7-10 from the floor, including 3-pointers from Sam Borst-Smith and Mack Montague. Brandeis meanwhile was 0-6 from the floor and committed three turnovers during the five and half minute scoreless streak.
The Yellowjackets ended up shooting 46% from the field in the second half and were 5-15 (33%) from behind the arc, finishing the game at 40% and 22% respectively. UR also was a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line, making more than 10 free throws without a miss in a game for only the third time in school history.
Zack Ayers led Rochester in scoring on Sunday, recording 16 points to go with five rebounds and was a team best 6-6 from the free throw line. Jacob Wittig added 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds while Borst-Smith had 13 points, five steals and four rebounds. The five swipes move the UR senior into 3rd place all-time at Rochester with 193, passing Greg Krohner on the all-time list.
UR's Montague scored eight points and added five rebounds and five assists while Andrew Lundstrom finished with eight points off the bench. Tucker Knox led all Yellowjacket players with eight rebounds, contributing to Rochester's 41-31 edge on the glass. Overall, Rochester pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 17 second chance points.
Brandeis' leading scorer was Latye Workman who had 14 points off the bench for the Judges. Jordan Cooper added 10 points and five rebounds while Robinson Vilmont had nine points.