This weekend, the Maroons (13–9, 6–5 UAA) traveled to New York and Boston for their last two away games of the season. They came away with a win against NYU (15–7, 5–6) but dropped their last game against Brandeis (12–10, 4–7).
“NYU is extremely big and physical inside,” second-year forward Alex Voss said. “Our game plan was to keep the ball out of the post with the help of the guards pinching in and then close out to shooters on the perimeter and make them drive.”
During the first half the South Siders allowed NYU to score on the inside, as after the Maroons went up 7–2 in the opening minutes, the home team rallied back with 14 quick points from the paint. Chicago then traded points with the Violets and pulled within one point thanks to a layup and two free throws by fourth-year guard Wayne Simon. Nevertheless, Chicago could not hold off NYU in the last five minutes of the first half, as they went on an 11–2 run to go up 34–24 at the break.
The Maroons rallied back in the beginning of the second half with the help of Voss and fourth-year guard Derrick Davis, as the pair poured in 10 points to help dig their team out of a 13-point deficit. This seemed to light a fire for Chicago, as the team then went on a 14–5 run to gain the lead at 60–59. From then on out, Chicago was able to hold on for the win, besting the Violets 68–63.
“We came out slow at the start, but the whole team remained calm and confident that a comeback was in store,” Voss said. “The entire team continued to play hard. We knocked down a lot of open shots and forced NYU into one shot and grabbed the defensive rebound pretty efficiently.”
Unfortunately, the rebounding that helped the Maroons secure their win against the Violets was lacking in their game against Brandeis, as Chicago was out-rebounded 28–45 in its 70–50 loss against the Judges. To make matters worse, Chicago was held to a 37 percent field goal shooting percentage and a 21 percent three-point percentage.
“We weren’t able to get anything going on offense,”said fourth-year forward Sam Gage. “We turned the ball over quite a bit, which led to easy baskets for them going the other way. Even the open shots we got seemed to turn into long rebounds and fast break points heading the other way.”
The game started off similarly to the game against NYU, with the Maroons going up 11–8 in the first few minutes. However, the rebounding and the ability of the Judges to get points in the paint tipped the table in Brandeis’ favor, as they went on a 12–5 run to capture a 31–26 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the home team was able to build steadily to its lead, as although the Maroons’ offense was finally starting to produce points, a couple key three-pointers from Brandeis kept them ahead. The Judges then coasted to the final buzzer, outperforming Chicago in every stat category.
The Maroons have a chance to redeem themselves this Friday at home against Carnegie Mellon. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
