Bernell DorroughIt was a winning weekend for the Washington University men’s basketball team.
A packed crowd of 1256 Bears fans filled the WU Field House to watch the Washington University Bears (18-5, 10-2 UAA) play the Brandeis University Judges (7-16, 3-9 UAA) this past Friday. Sponsored by Red Alert and Coca-Cola’s $10,000 contest, the University’s fans were ready to watch their 25th-ranked Bears beat the Judges for the 24th consecutive time.
After winning the tip, the Bears started the game with a commanding 19-2 start in the first five minutes of game play. Junior Rob Keller contributed nine of the Bears’ first 19 points with a series of clutch three-pointers. Keller, who led the Bears in scoring, finished the night with 19 points, going 7-of-13 shooting from the field. Supported by the roaring chants from the University’s fans and the Bears’ offensive and defensive dominance, the Bears were able to secure their highest lead of the night, 36-16, with under ten minutes to play in the first half.
The Bears’ fans did not fall short of giving their team support. After junior Anthony Hollis, who led the Bears with seven rebounds on the night, performed a two-handed dunk over two Brandeis defenders, freshman Brian Stowe remarked, “Is this even a game? It’s like a slaughterhouse!” Freshman David Barlow responded with, “Yeah, it’s like Duke playing my high school.”
Led by Brandeis’ Bryan Lambert, the Judges were able to stage a comeback late in the first half. Lambert, who scored 16 of his 36 points in the final ten minutes of the first half, allowed Brandeis to shorten the Bears’ lead 39-34 at halftime.
During halftime, five contestants were chosen among a lottery of several hundred applicants to try their luck at winning $10,000. Sponsored by Coca-Cola, the contestants had to shoot a lay-up, a free throw, a three-pointer, and a half-court shot in 25 seconds. The second contestant, sophomore Andrea Forist, who scored the lay-up and nailed the free-throw, commented on her performance, “They should’ve given us the $10,000 anyway. There was lots of pressure in front of everyone, but it was fun anyway.”
The second half began with the full support of the Bears’ faithful. One fan, who painted his body green and red, held a sign to the Judges’ bench that read, “Brandeis Is Not Attractive!” Later on, this same fan intimidated the Judges’ coach, who failed to wear a tie as part of his attire, with another sign that boldly stated, “Coach Ford would have worn a tie!”
With the remainder of the game extremely close, the battle was hard-fought by both sides. Sophomore Scott Stone, who scored all eight of his points in the second half, helped the Bears maintain their lead until 8:46 remaining when Lambert knocked down a three-pointer to give the Judges their first lead of the night 60-59.
For the next five minutes, there was a series of four lead changes as both teams refused to quit. The Bears began to take the lead when senior Ryan DeBoer took a charge from Brandeis’ Ben Bosanac. The foul riled up the Bears as they continued to dominate the boards offensively. With two minutes remaining, the Bears led by two points, 65-63, but then Stone drained an NBA-length three-pointer with 1:15 remaining to give the Bears a 70-65 lead.
There was no turning back for the Bears as they went on to win 75-65. Keller contributed the win to his teammates, stating, “This was a team effort. My teammates gave me great passes and my shots happened to fall. It was a big win.”
On Sunday the Bears hosted the New York University Violets (18-6, 7-6 UAA) on Senior Day, a day honoring the University’s departing seniors in their last home game. The two seniors on the squad, Ryan DeBoer and Barry Bryant, were honored before the game with a plaque and autographed ball for their commitment and leadership to the team over their years. Bryant leaves the Bears as the team’s leading scorer this season; DeBoer leaves as the team’s all-time wins leader, accumulating an outstanding 90 wins over his career.
After winning the tip, the Violets scored the first basket, but the Bears quickly answered back with the astounding three-point shooting by junior Rob Keller. Keller nailed his first three three-point attempts, helping the Bears lead 11-6 with 14:30 left in the first half. Keller finished the day going 5-for-9 from the three-point line and led the team with 19 points. He was one rebound away from a double-double.
The first half was mainly dominated by defense by both teams. After ten minutes of play, the score was 13-10 in favor of the Bears due to a number of steals, blocks, tipped balls and great rebounding by both sides. The Violets tied it up 13-13 on a 20-footer by NYU player, Michael DeCorso. The Violets then took the lead late in the first half with a lead of 19-17 with four minutes remaining.
Trailing 25-21, DeBoer led the Bears on a run to catch up with the Violets with a monstrous block with 1:15 remaining in the half. His team rallied around him and then with 39.3 seconds remaining Keller drained his fourth three-pointer to give the Bears the lead at the half, 26-25.
The halftime show was presented by the U-City Band, who performed a show nothing short of “Drumline.” The band got the crowd into their rhythmic drum beats and dancing, entertaining them the whole time. As the Bears and Violets took the floor for the second half, the band was given a standing ovation by some fans.
Bryant started the second half with a jumper from 15 feet and quickly followed up with another shot from the field. But the Violets quickly caught up and took the lead 31-30 with 17:19 left in regulation. Nineteen seconds later, however, DeBoer gave the Bears the lead, 32-31, with a jump shot from the free-throw line; the Violets would not recover.
With the three-point shooting by Keller and sophomore point guard Scott Stone, rebounding by DeBoer, who finished the day leading the team with 11 rebounds, three steals, and 35 minutes, and clutch field goals by Bryant, the Bears were able to widen the gap on their road to victory. The departing seniors were able to enjoy their last home game with a major win, 69-55.
Following the game, DeBoer was nothing but smiles. “I couldn’t ask for more,” DeBoer commented. “This was an amazing experience. We were able to go out there and beat a great team in our last home game. When asked about his departure from the team upon graduating, DeBoer said, “It still hasn’t really hit me yet. This team has given me so much and I’ll miss them all. Before the game I was pretty emotional, but it was a great way to end the home stretch.”
The seniors’ teammates were sad to see their teammates leave. Keller commented on DeBoer and Bryant’s influence, “As for Ryan, well, it’s really sad. I’ll miss him a lot. He taught me a lot coming into the program and I owe him a great deal.” Keller continued, “Barry Bryant was one of my best buds on the team and he will definitely be missed on the court.”