St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 22, 2016 – Sophomore forward Andrew Sanders had a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds but it was not enough as the Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team suffered a 69-66 loss to Brandeis University Friday at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Brandeis improved to 8-7, 2-2 in the UAA, while WashU had its two-game win streak snapped and dropped to 10-5, 2-2 in the UAA.
Senior guard Luke Silverman-Lloyd also scored in double figures for WashU with 15 points. The Bears shot a season-low 36.2 percent from the field, and hit just 4-of-18 from three-point range. WashU also hit 20-of-25 from the free-throw line.
WashU started slow from the field hitting just 4-of-13, and trailed 15-11 with 12:41 left in the first half. With two starters on the bench with foul trouble for most of the first half, WashU got back into the behind the play of Sanders.
The Bears largest deficit of the first half was at nine (22-13) with 9:25 left, but back-to-back buckets by Sanders trimmed the advantage to five. Brandeis got the lead back to seven (28-21) before half, but WashU ended on a 10-3 run to tie the score at 31-31 at half. Sanders had six of the 10 points for the Bears during the run.
Sanders had 13 points and six rebounds in the opening half as WashU was limited to 37.9 percent (11-29) shooting and hit 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Junior forward Clinton Hooks, who played six minutes and did not in the first half due to foul trouble, canned a three-pointer from the corner and then scored on a driving lay-up to tie the game at 40-40 with 15:39. Brandeis scored five quick points to get the lead back at 50-45.
Hooks added a lay-up to get the lead down to two, and then Sanders connected on 1-of-2 free-throws to make it a one-point game (59-58) with 4:47 to play. That would be as close as WashU would get the rest of the way.
Silverman-Lloyd had a chance to send the game to overtime, but his shot from 25 feet out with five seconds remaining was off the mark.
Jordan Cooper (23 points) and Robinson Vilmont (20) combined to score 43 of Brandeis' 69 points. The Judges shot 52.1 percent (25-48) from the field, including 56 percent in the second half.
WashU continues conference play at home against No. 17-ranked New York University on Sunday, Jan. 24, at Noon. The Violets (12-2, 2-2 UAA) suffered a 69-58 loss at the University of Chicago Friday.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Brandeis, 43-12, and the loss snapped a five-game win streak by the Bears … WashU had nine turnovers in the loss, second lowest total of the season … The double-double for Sanders was his sixth of the season and he topped the 20-point make for the sixth time … The Bears have lost three-straight home games and are 4-3 at the Field House this season.