From University of Rochester Athletics
After a two-week road trip, the University of Rochester men's basketball team returned home to the Palestra and emerged with a 79-65 win on Friday evening over Brandeis University in a key late-season University Athletic Association matchup.
Rochester graduate student Ryan Algier led the Yellowjacket (16-7, 6-6 UAA) effort with 19 points, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the field. Algier's performance also included the 1,000th point of his collegiate career, becoming the second Yellowjacket to hit the milestone this season and 32nd overall in program history.
Three other UR starters scored in double-digits, with Logan Jagodzinski scoring 14 and both Matt Wiele and T.C. Price chipped in ten. Wiele added five steals and Ross Gang added 8 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Brandeis (12-11, 4-8 UAA) was led by Toby Harris who had 25 points (10-14 FG) and six rebounds, leading all scorers. Quron Zene added 18 points for the Judges.
Algier got things started with a thunderous slam dunk shortly after the opening tap, with Gang assisting on a two-thirds court pass. A couple minutes later Algier got to 1,000 for his career on an alley-oop layup from Wiele, boosting Rochester's early lead to 11-5.
At the midway point of the half, Jagodzinski scored seven straight points for the Yellowjackets in a 7-2 spurt, boosting the Yellowjacket advantage to 29-20.
Zene and Harris quickly added a 3-pointer and layup to trim the lead back to four, but Rochester responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by trey's from Algier and Mitchell Kershner to reach the first double-digit lead of the game. Price sank two free throws to put Rochester up 37-25 with 4:40 remaining in the opening half.
At intermission, Rochester held a comfortable lead at 49-34.
After Harris started the second half with a slam dunk for Brandeis, but Algier answered on UR's end with his second 3-pointer of the night, grabbing momentum right back for the Yellowjackets.
Two minutes later, Rochester started a 9-1 run to reach a 20-plus point cushion with over 14 minutes remaining. A highlight from that stretch was an alley-oop tap in to beat the shot clock buzzer from Matt Niemczura, who added a free throw after getting fouled on the play.
Kershner hit another corner 3-pointer to reach Rochester's biggest lead of the night with 6:27 left in the game, allowing the Yellowjackets to cruise the rest of the way.
UR dominated inside, outscoring the Judges 48-16 in the paint and grabbing 34 rebounds to Brandeis' 22, notching Rochester's second-best rebound margin on the season.