BABSON PARK, Mass. (courtesy Babson College sports information) – The Brandeis University men's basketball team received seven points and eight assists from Most Valuable Player Tyrone Hughes (Dorchester, Mass./Taft School) 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, 19th-ranked 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./St. Andrews School) added 14 points and four rebounds to earn All-Tournament honors, while freshman Derek Retos (North Attleboro, Mass./Brimmer and May School) and junior Vytas Kriskus (Kvedarna, Lithuania/Holderness School) 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./St. Johns Prep) 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