Brandeis opened the game with an 11-4 run, capped off by a three-pointer from freshman Florian Rexhepi from the right wing. Meanwhile, the Judges’ defense limited to Bears to just 1-of-7 from the field to open the game. BU pushed ahead to 21-9 after a trey by freshman Joe Coppens and Rexhepi’s slashing lay-in through the lane, forcing a WU timeout at the 11:14 mark.
After each team traded baskets, Washington U. put together an 18-2 run that spanned 5:49. Sophomore Neal Griffin, who finished the half with five points off the bench, started the run with a driving lay-up through the heart of the Judges’ defense. Classmate Brandon York followed with a three-point field goal, and Ruths converted a lay-up to cut the deficit to five (23-18) with 8:01 left in the half.
BU freshman Steve DeLuca hit two free throws for a 25-18 Judges lead before WU scored 11 unanswered points. Ruths connected on two free throws and another lay-up to start the run. Junior Calvin Williams hit two free throws, and freshman Jim Grabowski connected on a jumper from the right baseline to force a BU timeout. Griffin hit a three-pointer to seal the Bears’ run and give them a 29-25 lead at the 4:42 mark.
Brandeis scored five straight points to regain the lead, and the teams traded leads five times thereafter before York hit a runner with seven seconds remaining to give WU a 36-35 halftime edge. York and senior Rob Keller, who scored eight of WU’s first nine points, paced the Bears with eight points apiece in the opening frame; WU’s reserves scored 25 points in the half. Freshman Kwame Graves-Fulgham led the Judges with 10 points and five assists.
The Bears opened up a six-point lead (44-38) at the 14:47 mark of the first half when junior Mike Grunst threw down a two-handed slam despite being fouled on the play. Grunst scored seven of nine points for the Bears over a four-minute stretch, when Washington U. jumped out to a 51-42 lead. Keller scored on a driving lay-up through the middle and senior Anthony Hollins flipped in a backwards lay-up under the basket on junior Scott Stone’s fifth assist of the game. The assist moved Stone into ninth place WU’s career list. The Bears took a commanding 55-42 lead on Hollins’ bucket.
The Judges cut the Bears’ lead to nine points three times down the stretch, but would get no closer.
Keller finished with 14 points, while Hollins added 10 points and two blocked shots. The two blocks moved Hollins into eighth place on the Bears’ all-time blocks list. Ruths went 8-of-10 from the field, while York contributed 12 points and four assists. Graves-Fulgham and Rexhepi paced the Judges (11-9, 4-5 UAA) with 14 points apiece. However, WU limited BU’s leading scorer, senior Bryan Lambert, to just eight points on 3-of-12 field-goal shooting.
Washington U. is back in action Friday, Feb. 13, at Emory University. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. (EST) in Atlanta, Ga.