Strong Foul Shooting Lifts Tartans to 78-73 Win Over Brandeis

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team hosted the Judges of Brandeis University on Sunday afternoon and University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Tartans strong foul shooting lifted them to a 78-73 victory.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 78, Brandeis 73
Records: Carnegie Mellon (14-6, 6-3 UAA), Brandeis (11-9, 3-6 UAA)
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Weigand Gymnasium)

How it Happened

• The Tartans jumped out to a 17-5 lead at the 13:30 mark of the first half following a pair of made free throws by freshman Buckley DeJardin.
• Over the next three minutes and 40 seconds, Brandeis used a 10-2 run to climb back into the contest, but over the last five minutes of the first half, Carnegie Mellon used a 12-3 and led 38-25 at the break
• Carnegie Mellon converted 17-of-19 from the foul line in the first half to Brandeis' 2-of-8 effort.
• A jump shot by senior Josh Berry started the second half which pushed the lead to 40-25 before the Tartans went cold from the floor and the Judges scored nine straight.
• The visitor's spurt turned into an 18-3 run as the Judges knotted the score at 43-all with 15 minutes to play.
• With 11;39 left in regulation Brandeis took its first leadoff the contest since the opening minute of play when Jake Bender connected on a three-point bucket to make the score 51-49.
• The lead for the Judges grew to as many as six points, but the Tartans stood strong and slowly chipped their way back and tied the score at 65-65 with 3:42 on the clock.
• The Tartans trailed 69-67, but a pair of free throws by senior R.J. Holmes pulled the teams tied for the sixth time in the contest.
• After two missed three-point attempts by Brandeis, Holmes converted anther two from the line to give the Tartans the lead at 71-69, one they never surrendered over the remaining 1:23 of the contest.  
• Over the finial 1:23, Carnegie Mellon went 9-of-10 from the foul line to secure its 14th victory of the season.

Tartans Stats

• The Tartans shot 84.1% from the foul line making 37-of-44.
• Holmes led four Tartans in double figures with 19 points, as he went 11-of-12 from the foul line. The junior also grabbed seven rebounds.
• DeJardin finished with a season-high 15 points after going 4-of- from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line. He led the Tartans with a season-high eight rebounds.
• Freshman Justin Allen scored 13 points while Berry finished with 10.

Judges Stats

• Brandeis shot 40.6% from the floor and converted 11-of-23 from the foul line for 47.8%,
• Sam Adusei led Brandeis with 15 points.
• Quron Zene scored 11 while Darrett Justice and Ryan Powere each scored 10.

Game Notes

• The 37 made free throws for the Tartans was one shy of the school record for made free throws in a single-game. During the 1953-54 season, the Tartans made 38 against Saint Vincent.
• Carnegie Mellon is now 8-0 on the season at home.
• The Tartans improve to 12-1 when holding its opponents to 73 points or less this season.

Up Next

• Carnegie Mellon will host currently 20th-ranked Emory University on Friday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m.