University of Rochester men's basketball snapped its four-game losing streak, bouncing back from a Friday night defeat at the hands of No. 13 NYU to defeat Brandeis, 61-52, on Sunday afternoon inside Red Auerbach Arena.
The 'Jackets pulled out a tough, road win, scoring the last seven points of the contest after the Judges used a 13-1 run to pull within two, 54-52, over the final nine minutes of the second half. Rochester led by as many as 14, taking their largest lead of the afternoon on Mitchell Kershner's layup from Logan Jagodzinski with 10:02 to play.
Kershner's bucket capped off a 10-0 run for UR that saw them turn a four-point lead into a 14-point advantage, keyed by five from Matt Wiele and Tomiwa Adetosoye's fastbreak dunk.
Rochester led by three, 33-29, at the halftime break, and kept Brandeis at an arm's length for much of the start of the second half. Wiele got things going for UR in the second, before Adetosoye's jumper made it a seven-point advantage, 37-30, with 18:10 remaining.
Ethan Edwards would answer with a three-point play for the Judges, as the sophomore scored nine of Brandeis' first 10 points of the frame. Edwards would cut UR's lead down to four, 43-39, with a pair of free throws at the 14:21 mark, before Rochester made its run, outscoring the Judges, by 10 over nearly four minutes to take a 53-49 lead.
But the Judges would get things rolling at the other end with three made free throws before Edwards knocked down another triple, one of seven makes from beyond the arc for Brandeis, to cut the deficit to single digits with 6:41 to play.
After Sam Adusei went 1-for-2 at the line, Malachi Moore answered with a free throw on the other end, but Edwards kept the Judges' rolling on the ensuing possession, sinking a layup to bring Brandeis within six.
Gilbert Otoo added another bucket to make it a four-point game with just over four minutes to play, before two Quron Zene free throws pulled the Judges within two, 54-52, with 3:10 left.
However, both teams would go relatively silent for the next two minutes, combining to miss six shots and turn it over twice. But after Jagodzinski was blocked by Zene at the rim, Matt Niemczura corralled the offensive rebound, giving Rochester another possession with just over a minute left.
UR would take advantage, as Jagodzinski knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the night off a kick-out from Adetosoye. And after Edwards' layup was blocked by Wiele, Niemczura beat Brandeis' ball pressure and found Jagodzinski for the slam, putting Rochester up seven, 59-52, with 31 seconds left.
Edwards would then miss another three, before two Niemczura free throws put the Judges away for good, finishing off the 61-52 victory.
Rochester got off to a hot start in the opening period, hitting three triples over the first six minutes against the Judges. Back-to-back layups by Niemczura and Jagodzinski's layup gave UR an early 7-0 lead before Adusei got Brandeis on the scoreboard with a three just over two minutes in.
UR led by as many as nine in the first half following Moore's three, before Edwards keyed another run, scoring four of seven over a two-minute stretch to knot the score at 22-all.
Layups by Jagodzinski and Wiele put Rochester back up four before Brandeis took their first lead of the day on Aedan Using's right-wing three with 6:52 left in the first.
However, Rochester would regain with Jagodzinski's answer on the other end, and stretch it to six, 33-27, before Zene scored a layup to send the Yellowjackets up four into the halftime break.
Rochester moves back to .500 at 9-9 (3-4 UAA) with the win, while Brandeis drops to 11-7 (2-5 UAA) with the loss.
Wiele and Jagodzinski combined for 38 of UR's 61 points, with Wiele tallying a team-high 20 on 8-for-10 shooting, while Jagodzinski notched 18, shooting 4-for-5 from three. Adetosoye led UR on the glass with eight rebounds, while Wiele totaled a team-high four assists.
Rochester shot 47.1 percent as a team, and 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from three, holding Brandeis to just 29.8 percent shooting and 7-for-23 from deep. Where the Judges outscored UR was at the free-throw line, shooting 11-for-16, compared to just 5-for-8 for Rochester.