NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Two Brandeis men's basketball players scored
more than 20 points today, but they could not overcome all five New
York University starters who scored in double figures as the Judges
dropped a 79-75 University Athletic Association decision today.
Brandeis (7-6, 0-3 UAA) dropped its third straight UAA contest
despite career highs from sophomore Joe Coppens (Rockland, Mass.),
who had 22 points, and rookie guard Huston Conti (Edmonds, Wash.),
with 12. Sophomore forward Steve DeLuca (Merrimack, N.H.) recorded
his fourth double-double of the season with a game-high 23 points
and 10 rebounds.
NYU (12-1, 2-1 UAA) had two double-double performances. Junior
Jared Kildare had 12 points and an NYU-record 14 assists. Classmate
Jason Boone had 16 points, hitting all six of his field goals
attempts, and a game-high 13 rebounds. Chael Clark led the Violets
with 17 points and had nine rebounds. Matt Basford, with 16 points,
12 in the first half, and Michael DeCorso with 11 points, rounded
out the double-figure scorers.
The Judges got off to a sluggish start, falling behind by 14 points
early, 23-9, less than seven minutes into the contest. They closed
the half on a 23-11 run of their own, however, and trailed by just
two at the break, 34-32. NYU opened the lead back up to eight
points in the first 5:45. Trailing 49-41, Brandeis went on a 17-5
run over the next five minutes as Coppens, Conti and Coppens again
hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give Brandeis a 58-54
lead. The hosts responded, however, outscoring Brandeis, 21-8, to
take a 75-66 lead with 1:03 on the clock. The Judges didn't give
up, using trifectas and poor foul shooting by NYU to climb within
three, 78-75, with five seconds left, but it ended up being too
little, too late.