first 11 of the game — as Davidson fended off scrappy Brandeis on Saturday night at Belk Arena, 69-49. Davidson
evened its record at 4-4 with the win while the Division III Judges from Waltham, Mass., had its five-game winning
streak snapped to fall to 6-3 on the season.
The way the game started, it seemed the big question would be if Kosmalski would outscore the entire Brandeis
squad. Over the first three minutes, the Wildcats’ power forward connected on his first four field goal attempts as
well as a pair of free throws to give the ’Cats a quick 11-0 lead.
The Judges finally got on the board nearly five minutes into the contest on a fast-break layup by point guard
Kwame Graves-Fulgham, but three-pointers by junior Matt McKillop and Kosmalski increased the lead to 17-2.
At the half, Davidson held a very comfortable 38-19 lead, due mostly to a suffocating defense. Brandeis shot just
21.2 percent (7-of-33) from the floor, plus missed all 10 of its three-point attempts.
In the second half, the Judges battled their way back into the game as the Wildcat shooters went completely cold.
After senior forward Conor Grace scored Davidson’s first seven points of the second half to increase the lead to
22, the ’Cats were held scoreless for slightly more than five minutes while the Judges went on a 10-0 run.
The two teams traded points for the next couple minutes before Davidson put the game away on three consecutive
three-pointers in just over a minute’s time. Junior Brendan Winters nailed the first two and junior Ian Johnson
knocked down the third to boost the lead back to 22 and put the game out of reach.
Davidson set a school record in attempting 35 three-pointers, converting 10. But the 28.6 percentage on trifectas
was a season low and well below the team’s 40.6 percent entering the game. Overall, the ’Cats shot just 37.1 percent
(26-of-70) from the floor, also a season low.
Joining Kosmalski in double figures were Winters with 14, and Grace and McKillop with 11 each. Kosmalski,
Winters and Johnson each had eight rebounds to lead the squad. Although junior point guard Kenny Grant did not
score, he dished off 11 assists for the second time this season while turning the ball over once. As a team,
Davidson committed just five turnovers, its fewest since Feb. 8, 1992 against UNC Charlotte.
For the Judges, Rocco Toppi was the lone player in double figures with 13 points. Center Bryan Lambert hauled in
a game-high 12 rebounds. Brandeis shot just 27.9 percent from the floor for the game.
Davidson will be back in action next Friday, Dec. 17 when Sewanee comes to Belk Arena for a game at 5 p.m.
Brandeis does not play again until the new year arrives, hosting Rochester in their University Athletic Association opener on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.