WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's basketball team held their opponents to a season-low scoring total while dominating the boards as the Judges defeated Westfield State University, 60-47, in a non-conference contest in Red Auerbach Arena tonight.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 8-2.
• Westfield State, 1-10.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams were sluggish in the early going, with Brandeis owning an 8-7 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.
• Brandeis's leading scorer, sophomore Toby Harris (Durham, N.C./Durham Academy) snapped out of it at that point, hitting a free throw and a 3-pointer in an 11-second span for his first four points of the game.
• From there, Harris scored 12 more points the rest of the half to lead all players with 16. The Judges took a 28-24 into the locker room thanks to Harris's tip-in at the buzzer.
• Brandeis gained some separation by opening the second half on a 16-4 run, taking a 44-28 lead on a steal by first-year Ethan Edwards (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Woodstock Acad.) that led to a bucket by senior Terrell Brown (Lowell, Mass. / Proctor Academy).
• WSU scored back-to-back buckets to stem the tide, but an 8-0 run that included two 3-pointers from senior Dylan Lien (Northborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) established a 20-point lead at 52-32 with eight minutes left and the Judges never looked back after that.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Harris led all players with 2 points on 8-of-14 from the field, 4-of-9 from 3-point range and 1-of-2 from the line.
• He has scored 20 or more points in nine of the Judges' 10 games.
• Lien's three 3-pointers in the second half gave him 11 points for the game.
• First-year Quron Zene (Windsor, Conn. / IMG Acad.) tied his career-high with a game-high 11 rebounds.
• He helped the Judges win the battle of the boards, 40-28, including 24-12 in the second half, as 12 of the 13 active Brandeis players had at least one carom.
• Junior Ryan Power (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) had a game-high six assists, more than the entire WSU roster, who had just four helpers.
• JT Thompson led Westfield State with 11 points, while Brendon Hamilton had seven rebounds off the bench. Four Owls had one assist each.
• The Judges shot just 33 percent from 3-point range in the game (9-27), but they held WSU to just 1-of-17 from downtown (5.9%).
• Westfield State kept it close by outscoring Brandeis from the free-throw line, 14-3.
• The Owls forced 20 Brandeis turnovers, but the Judges forced 18 to earn a 15-10 edge in points of those miscues.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Westfield State's 47 points were the fewest allowed by the Judges this season, and fewest since their season opener, when they held Salem State to 58.
• The Judges improved to 8-2 in non-conference games for the second year in a row.
• This was the first-ever game between Brandeis and Westfield State.

UP NEXT

• The Judges hit the road for their final non-conference game of the year, playing at #7 Christopher Newport University.
• It will be Brandeis's first-ever men's basketball game in the state of Virginia as they look to go 9-2 outside the UAA for the second year running.