Spring Break
MBBALL: Team loses a pair of games
by Jeffrey Pickette
Senior writer
Sports | 11/25/08
Posted online at 11:20 PM EST on 11/24/08
/ Last updated at 2:48 AM EST on 11/24/08
While the men's basketball team only trailed Worcester Polytechnic Institute by six points, 34-28, at the half last Saturday on the road, their hopes of mounting a comeback slowly unraveled with the onset of the second half.
Fueled by two three-pointers, WPI went on a 10-3 run in the first five minutes, 14 seconds of the second half, which gave the Engineers a 44-31 lead. WPI never looked back, handing Brandeis a 78-64 loss.
"A lot of times we just left guys wide open so that they would hit [three-pointers]," assistant coach Eric McKoy said.
Brandeis, with its season-opening 68-66 loss at Lasell College last Tuesday, fell to 0-2 on the season. Both Lasell and WPI were NCAA Tournament participants last season, but the Judges still must face three more NCAA teams-the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth today, Rhode Island College Dec. 4 and Amherst College Jan. 15-in addition to conference play.
"It's pretty unimaginable; I didn't foresee this one happening," guard Kevin Olson '09 said of the team's 0-2 start.
The Judges jumped out to an early 8-3 lead four minutes into the game, behind two three-pointers from guard Tyrone Hughes '12, but this was the largest lead Brandeis would have the entire night.
WPI took the lead for good midway through the first half on two free throws from sophomore forward Ben Etten, which gave the Engineers a 13-12 lead. From there, WPI increased the lead to six by halftime and to as many as 17 points at five different occasions in the second half.
One of these 17-point advantages came courtesy of a fast-break layup by WPI senior guard Jerome Kirkland, which gave his team a 59-42 advantage with 9:05 left to play. Kirkland intercepted a pass from forward Vytas Kriskus '12 intended for Hughes and dribbled three-quarters of the court for the uncontested basket.
"[Kirkland] was a good, quick guard. All of them-they really pressure, and they play hard and they get up in you. … [Kirkland] does a good job of that," Olson said.
Fueled by two three-pointers, WPI went on a 10-3 run in the first five minutes, 14 seconds of the second half, which gave the Engineers a 44-31 lead. WPI never looked back, handing Brandeis a 78-64 loss.
"A lot of times we just left guys wide open so that they would hit [three-pointers]," assistant coach Eric McKoy said.
Brandeis, with its season-opening 68-66 loss at Lasell College last Tuesday, fell to 0-2 on the season. Both Lasell and WPI were NCAA Tournament participants last season, but the Judges still must face three more NCAA teams-the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth today, Rhode Island College Dec. 4 and Amherst College Jan. 15-in addition to conference play.
"It's pretty unimaginable; I didn't foresee this one happening," guard Kevin Olson '09 said of the team's 0-2 start.
The Judges jumped out to an early 8-3 lead four minutes into the game, behind two three-pointers from guard Tyrone Hughes '12, but this was the largest lead Brandeis would have the entire night.
WPI took the lead for good midway through the first half on two free throws from sophomore forward Ben Etten, which gave the Engineers a 13-12 lead. From there, WPI increased the lead to six by halftime and to as many as 17 points at five different occasions in the second half.
One of these 17-point advantages came courtesy of a fast-break layup by WPI senior guard Jerome Kirkland, which gave his team a 59-42 advantage with 9:05 left to play. Kirkland intercepted a pass from forward Vytas Kriskus '12 intended for Hughes and dribbled three-quarters of the court for the uncontested basket.
"[Kirkland] was a good, quick guard. All of them-they really pressure, and they play hard and they get up in you. … [Kirkland] does a good job of that," Olson said.
Be the first to comment on this story