The men's basketball team endured a grueling road trip, falling to 0-4 in Ivy League play with a 78-60 loss to Princeton Friday night and an 80-78 loss to Penn the next day.
Princeton 78, Brown 60
Despite taking an early 21-13 lead, the Bears (7-11, 0-4 Ivy) saw it slip away as Princeton (14-4, Ivy 2-0) went on a 24-2 run.
"They made shots, and we didn't," said Head Coach Jesse Agel. "It's pretty much as simple as that. Princeton is a very good team, and they were just clicking on all cylinders."
The Bears offense missed co-captain Peter Sullivan '11, Brown's 11th all-time career scorer, who sustained an injury during the game and played only 18 minutes, compared to his average 28.5 minutes per game. In Sullivan's absence, his brother, guard Matt Sullivan '13, stepped up for the Bears and scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting .
"He did a phenomenal job," Agel said. "It was the first chance he's had to play extended minutes off the ball with the injury to Peter, and he has the ability to score a lot of points."
Penn 80, Brown 78
After the loss to Princeton, Brown traveled to Philadelphia to face the Penn Quakers (8-8, Ivy 2-0). The Bears looked like they were headed for their first Ivy victory with just two minutes remaining in regulation and a 73-67 lead, but Penn rallied back with a six-point run to send the game into overtime.
With the Bears trailing by two points with under a minute left in overtime, co-captain Adrian Williams '11 missed a contested three-point shot and, despite getting the rebound and calling a timeout, the team was unable to convert.
"I thought we played great the whole way," Agel said. "I thought we played well enough to earn the win, but unfortunately we didn't get the W."
With the absence of Peter Sullivan still looming, Bruno had to find points from new sources. Williams, who has been averaging less than 20 minutes per game, exploded off the bench, finishing with 22 points in 41 minutes. He shot 60 percent from the field and 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, with 19 of his points coming in the first half.
"He had a spectacular first half," Agel said. "He hit shots like I've seen him do before, and it was a thrill to just be able to watch him. Our guys did a tremendous job to make the extra pass to find him."
Another recent standout for the Bears is rookie forward Dockery Walker '14, who made his first collegiate start for Bruno against Princeton. He finished the game against the Tigers with eight points and seven rebounds and was two points shy of a double-double against Penn with eight points and 10 rebounds.
"He's been playing well," Agel said. "He's doing a great job on the glass and scoring with his back to the basket."
After a tough road trip, the Bears return to the Pizzitola Center for two home matchups. They will face Columbia on Friday at 7 p.m. and a struggling Cornell team the following night at 6 p.m.
"In our first four league games, three have been on the road," Agel said. "Obviously we'll be happy to come back and play in front of our home fans in our familiar confines, but we still have to play well to win."
