BOX SCORE
BABSON PARK, Mass. – Junior Brian Clark (Deerfield, Mass.)
scored 31 points and junior Apollos Wade (Taunton, Mass.) added two
key free throws and a game-winning steal in the final 16 seconds to
lift the Salem State University men's basketball team to a
83-78 victory over host Babson College in the consolation game of
the 2010 New England Big 4 Challenge at Babson's Staake
Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 3-2 on the season, while
the Beavers dipped to 3-4.
In addition to his game-high 31 points, which came on 14-of-18
shooting from the field and a 3-of-4 clip from the line, Clark also
pulled down a team-best eight rebounds to earn All-Tournament
honors. Wade finished with 10 points, four assists, and five steals
for the Vikings, while senior Brennan Bennett (Northbridge, Mass.)
chipped in with 10 points and four boards. Salem State shot 51.7
percent from the floor for the contest, hitting 31 of 60
attempts.
Babson was paced by sophomore All-Tournament
selection Russell Braithwaite (Brooklyn,
N.Y.), who finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting to
go with five rebounds, and sophomore Alex Rudolph (Bal
Harbour, Fla.), who added 14 points and five boards. Also
hitting double-figures for the Beavers were senior captain
Matt Zoia (Nashua, N.H.), who scored 13 points off
the bench, junior Kris Noonan (Boothbay Harbor,
Maine), who contributed 11 points and five rebounds, and junior
captain Matt Florio (Skillman, N.J.), who netted 10 points and
grabbed four caroms.
Babson built an early 13-6 lead thanks to a 10-0 run that
featured eight points from Rudolph. However, the Vikings went on to
score 24 of the game's next 32 points to move in front,
35-28, with 4:42 left in the half. The Beavers then pulled back to
within one on a pair of occasions before entering the break
trailing by two at 42-40.
The second half was close throughout, as the two teams combined
for 10 ties and 10 lead changes. Babson took its final lead of the
contest after a Braithwaite lay-up put the Beavers up, 77-76, with
2:15 left, but Salem State answered with a lay-up by sophomore Nate
Simpson (Lowell, Mass.) to regain the advantage, 78-77, with 1:40
to go.
Babson would even the contest when Braithwaite hit the second of
two free throws with 1:24 on the clock, but that would prove to be
the hosts' final point of the contest. Bennett sank the first
of two from the line to put the Vikings back in front, 79-78, with
37.6 seconds left, and after the Beavers missed a three-point
attempt at the other end, Wade knocked down two more freebies to
make it an 81-78 cushion with 15.5 ticks remaining. The sophomore
guard then came up with a game-clinching steal on Babson's
ensuing possession and Bennett hit a lay-up with three seconds to
go to finish off the 83-78 victory.
___________________________________________________________________________
Brandeis Fends Off Tufts, 60-52, To Win Second Straight
Big 4 Championship
BOX SCORE
BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's
basketball team received seven points and eight assists from Most
Valuable Player Tyrone Hughes (Dorchester, Mass.) as the Judges
defeated Tufts University, 60-52, in the championship game of the
2010 New England Big 4 Challenge at Babson College on Sunday
afternoon. With the win, Brandeis remained perfect on the season at
8-0, while the Jumbos dropped to 3-3.
Hughes played all 40 minutes in the victory for the Judges,
finishing with seven points, a game-high eight assists, three
rebounds, and two steals. First-year Youri Dascy (Fall River
,Mass.) added 14 points and four rebounds to earn All-Tournament
honors, while freshman Derek Retos (North Attleboro, Mass.) and
junior Vytas Kriskus (Kvedarna, Lithuania) chipped in with 12 and
10 points, respectively.
Tufts was led in defeat by junior Alex Orchowski (Cornwall,
N.Y.), who notched his second double-double of the weekend with 15
points and 11 rebounds. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by
sophomore teammate Alex Goldfarb (New York, N.Y.), whose 18-point
outburst on Saturday helped propel the Jumbos to the championship
game.
Brandeis held Tufts scoreless for nearly eight minutes to start
the game, as the Judges built a 12-0 advantage before first-year
Oliver Cohen (Penn Valley, Pa.) finally knocked down a three to put
the Jumbos on the board with 12:15 left in the first half. Despite
its early struggles Tufts trailed by only seven at 17-10 with 7:50
left in the half, but Brandeis rattled off eight straight points,
including five by Retos, to increase its advantage to 25-10 with
just under four minutes to go. The Judges eventually went into the
break armed with a 17-point cushion at 32-15, thanks to a
three-pointer by sophomore Anthony Trapasso (Sterling, Mass.) at
the buzzer.
Dascy scored the first six points of the second half as the
Judges' lead ballooned to 23 at 38-15 with 15:21 left in the
game. However, Tufts battled back when Goldfarb hit a jumper to
spark a 10-0 run that cut his team's deficit to 13 at 38-25,
and the Jumbos cut it to as little as eight later in the period
when Orchowski hit back-to-back buckets to make it 48-40 with 2:33
remaining.
Brandeis put the game away in the final minute-plus, beginning
when Retos drained a huge three just as the shot clock expired to
push the lead back to double-digits at 53-42 with 1:09 left to
play. Tufts would get back to within eight points on three
different occasions the rest of the way, but Hughes, Retos, and
Kriskus combined to hit seven of eight from the free throw line in
the final minute as the Judges closed out the 60-52 victory.
All-Tournament Team
Tyrone Hughes, Brandeis – Most Valuable Player
Youri Dascy, Brandeis
Alex Orchowski, Tufts
Alex Goldfarb, Tufts
Russell Braithwaite, Babson
Brian Clark, Salem State
