The men’s basketball team opened its season with two close defeats this week, falling to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 78-76 on Wednesday night at home and at Rhode Island College 66-60 on Saturday night. 

The week saw the Judges back in action for the first time since ending last season with a 13-12 record overall. 

The Judges’ second game of the young season, and first road game, was a close six-point loss.

Guard Carlin Haymon ’18 led the team with 15 points in the second game of his career. 

On the strength of Haymon’s shooting, the Judges shot an outstanding 56.3 percent from the field in the first half and went into the second half tied at 23 apiece. 

In the second half, RIC took a lead and looked poised to run away with the game, but guard Nate Meehan ’18 hit a few big shots, including a three-pointer to cut the lead down to two points with less than three minutes to play. 

From that point, though, the momentum shifted back to RIC, who hit all four of their last free-throw attempts to ice the game.

The loss showcased impressive individual performances for the Judges, including guard Colby Smith’s ’16 double-double. Smith had four assists as well to go along with his 10 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Jordan Cooper ’18 added 11 points—including two threes—off of the bench.   

The first game on the 2014 to 2015 schedule saw the Judges squander a six-point lead at halftime and lose by two points to UMass Dartmouth last Wednesday. 

Haymon once again led the way with 12 points in the first half of his first collegiate game. 

Haymon was not alone in an excellent first performance of the season, as forward Samuel Dowden ’17—starting for the first time in his collegiate career—had a career-high 21 points. 

Dowden hit 9-13 from the field, including five three-pointers. He added five rebounds for the game, four of them being offensive. Dowden credited the coaching staff for his breakthrough game. 

“Our coaching staff does a great job of scouting our opponents and finding out their strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

The Judges started the second half on fire, hitting their first five shots to take a 48-34 lead before cooling down. 

UMass Dartmouth then got hot from behind the three point line about midway through the second half, hitting four threes in five possessions to take a 57-55 lead over the hosts. 

The game was close for the rest of the way, seeing 12 ties and 18 lead changes over the four quarters. With less than three minutes to play, Brandeis was up 71-70 until UMass Dartmouth scored four consecutive points to put them up by three with 1:50 remaining. Then a Dowden three-pointer and layup put the Judges up by two points with under a minute to play. 

After UMass Dartmouth tied the game up in the next possession, the Judges took the clock down and hoisted a failed three-point attempt as the shot clock expired. 

With 8.7 seconds left in the tied game, UMass Dartmouth went coast-to-coast and hit a layup with .3 seconds left to earn a heartbreaking victory over the Judges. 

After losing two close nail-biters, the Judges know that they must improve to get over that hump, as both games featured similar problems for the team. 

“In both games, we shot poorly from the free throw line and had too many careless turnovers,” commented Dowden. 

He continued, saying, “[t]hose two things really hurt us but should hopefully be an easy fix.”

The Judges have a lot more of the season left to play, and expectations are high, even on a team with six first-years. 

“I'm expecting this team to improve immensely as the season goes on and we gain more experience and grow as a team,” Dowden said. 

“We are very young and still have a lot to learn.” 

The Judges continue searching for their first win of the season today on the road against Lasell College at 6:00 p.m.