The Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team split its season series with Brandeis University, defeating the Judges 73-69 at Red Auerbach Arena in Waltham, Massachusetts, on Friday night.

The Spartans improved to 8-15 on the season and 4-8 in the University Athletic Association, while the Judges fell to 14-9 overall and 5-7 in conference play.

Senior forward Umar Rashid secured his 10th double-double of the season and fifth in conference play with 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, and senior guard Sam Trunley paced the squad with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Senior Andrew Fox added a season-high 12 points to go along with six rebounds, and first-year guard Matthew Ellis scored a career-high 16 points.

Brandeis started the game with a 6-0 run and the hosts opened a double-digit lead on a pair of free throws eight minutes into the contest. Down by 11 later in the half, the Spartans used a 7-0 run to cut into their deficit, scored on layups by Fox and Ellis and a three-pointer from Rashid. Brandeis stopped the momentum and scored seven of the next nine points to gain a nine-point advantage. Ellis then nailed a jumper in the paint, igniting a 12-2 Spartan run to end the half. Trunley scored the final 10 points of the stanza, including a five-of-six effort from the charity stripe in the final 2:34 to give the visitors a 34-33 edge at the break.

The teams traded the lead 10 times early in the second half, with neither squad able to go ahead by more than four points. A jumper by Rashid with 9:27 left, followed by a three-pointer from sophomore guard Charlie Fox, broke a tie at 54 and put the Spartans ahead by five. With the lead cut to just one, junior guard Anand Dharmarajan nailed a three-pointer with 5:35 remaining to give CWRU a crucial two-possession advantage.

A Brandeis three-pointer two minutes later made the score 67-66 in favor of the Spartans, but Andrew Fox collected an offensive rebound and put away a layup to increase the lead. Ellis followed with a layup, increasing the advantage to five with just 1:55 remaining. The Judges converted a three-point play on their next possession and had the ball with under a minute to play down by just two. CWRU forced a missed three-pointer, and Ellis came away with a clutch steal to give the Spartans the ball back. Following an empty Case Western Reserve possession, Brandeis missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer with seven seconds left. Rashid collected the crucial rebound on the miss, and Trunley nailed two free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.

CWRU, who won back-to-back games for the first time since November, will look to continue its momentum on Sunday when the team travels to Manhattan, New York, to face second-ranked New York University. The tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Spartan Notes

• Rashid finished the game with 998 career points, leaving him two points shy of becoming the 20th player in program history with 1,000 career points
• Rashid also finished the game with 45 blocks this season and 137 for his career. His single-season total ranks third in program history (seven from the record) and his career total is second in program history (18 program the record)
• The Spartans improved to 32-28 all-time against Brandeis, winning their last three contests in Massachusetts
• Trunley eclipsed 500 points during the 2024-25 campaign during the game, becoming just the third Spartan in program history to score at least 500 points in a single season. Ed Saxon holds the 25-game record with 529 points, and Anthony Mazzeo scored 545 points in 28 games during the historic 2023-24 season