Waltham, Mass., February 17, 2012 – Sophomore Chris Klimek scored a career-best 22 points and junior Robert Burnett added a career-high 18 points off the bench, but it was not enough as the No. 24-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team dropped a 79-69 decision at Brandeis University on Friday.
The Bears (17-6, 9-3 UAA) are now one game ahead of New York University (19-4, 8-4 UAA) in the UAA standings. The two teams meet on Sunday at Noon (ET) in Manhattan. NYU earned a 79-69 win over University of Chicago on Friday. Emory University (18-5, 7-5 UAA) and Brandeis (13-10, 7-5 UAA) both sit two games behind Washington U. in the standings.
Brandeis held a two-point lead at halftime (39-37), but held Washington U. to just two field goals through the first eight minutes of the second half as the Judges opened up a 57-43 lead. After a timeout by the Bears, Washington U. went on a 13-2 run, including six points by Klimek, to cut the lead to 59-56 with 7:21 left in the game.
The Judges stretched the lead back to five, but Washington U. answered and tied the game at 62-62 on a layup by Klimek with 4:15 remaining. Brandeis scored seven-straight points, including five by Ben Bartoldus, to regain a 69-62 lead. A layup by Burnett made it 69-64 with 2:24 left, but the Judges outscored Washington U. 10-5 down the stretch, including 8-of-11 from the free-throw line, to seal the win.
Washington U. and Brandeis battled back-and-forth throughout the first half. Burnett scored nine-straight points for the Bears to give Washington U. a five-point lead (22-17) with 8:33 left in the half. The Bears maintained the lead until a layup by Youri Dascy gave Brandeis a 29-28 advantage with 4:34 on the clock. The Judges led 36-33 before back-to-back layups by Klimek gave Washington U. the lead back (37-36) with 34 seconds left in the half. Brandeis answered with a three-pointer to take a 39-37 lead into halftime.
Brandeis shot 45.3 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from three-point range. Washington U. shot 36.8 percent from the field, and was just 2-of-15 (13.3 percent) from beyond the arc, including 0-of-8 from three-point range in the second half. The Bears finished with a 43-42 rebounding advantage, including a 21-12 advantage on the offensive end. Brandeis outscored the Bears 21-11 at the free-throw line.
Klimek had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead all scorers in the game. Burnet finished with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Sophomore Tim Cooney added nine points and seven rebounds.
Dascy led four Brandeis players in double-figures with 16 points. Bartoldus added 14 points, while Jay Freeman and Vytas Kriskus added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Brandeis, 38-10, and it was just the second win for the Judges in the last eight meetings … Senior Dylan Richter is 13 points shy of 19th on the all-time scoring list with 1,049 career points …The Bears dropped to 3-5 when trailing at half … Washington U. defeated Brandeis 80-54 on Jan. 20 in St. Louis, shooting 56.4 percent with 25 assists.