The men’s basketball team (0-2, 0-0 Ivy) opened its season with back-to-back home losses, falling 62-46 to Siena (2-0, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and 89-84 in double overtime to Vermont (3-0, 0-0 America East Conference). Despite competitive stretches in both games, the Bears are still searching for their first win of the 2025-26 campaign.
Against Siena on Friday, Brown looked to avenge last year’s opening-night loss to the Saints, but the Bears came up short once again.
Bruno guard Adrian Uchidiuno ’27 drained a 3-pointer for the first basket of the game to give the Bears a brief lead. But Siena responded with a strong 18-4 run that put the visitors in control for most of the first half.
Although the Bears were trailing, exciting debuts from a couple of first-year players helped Brown chip away at the deficit. Forward Charlie O’Sullivan ’29 scored his first collegiate 3-pointer and tallied 8 points — the second highest on the team behind Uchidiuno with 11.
Guards Isaiah Langham ’29 and Brady Loughlin ’29 also made their collegiate debuts, netting 4 and 2 points throughout the game, respectively.
Despite their efforts, the Bears were still unable to close the gap and headed into halftime by double digits.
After the break, Brown’s bench continued to chase the Saints, scoring 22 of the Bears’ 27 total points in the latter half of the second. Yet, their efforts were to no avail, as Siena maintained its advantage and closed out the 62-46 win.
“Our defense wasn’t the issue, but we have to do a better job on the defensive glass for sure,” Head Coach Mike Martin ’04 told Brown Athletics after the game. “A lot of the guys probably had some nervous energy out there, and I thought it was very choppy, especially early on. Our pressure got us going a little bit, trying to create something offensively, but they deserve a lot of credit.”
Following Friday’s loss, Brown returned to the court Sunday afternoon to face Vermont, a team that had already notched 2 wins but had yet to face a Division I opponent.
The Bears came out hot with an early 6-0 lead after winning the opening tip. Forward Wyatt DeGraaf ’28 converted a putback off a missed jumper, and Brown’s defense responded immediately with a block and forced a shot-clock violation on the other end of the court.
Brown’s energy carried through the first half, capped by a pick-and-roll dunk by DeGraaf with a pass from guard Jeremiah Jenkins ’28 that pushed their lead to 12 — the Bears’ largest of the game. Forward N’famara Dabo ’27 dominated inside, anchoring the paint on both ends of the floor.
Going into halftime, Brown led by 8 thanks to strong, quick ball movement — the team recorded assists on 9 of 11 baskets — and production from the bench, which scored 17 of the Bears’ 32 first-half points.
To open the second half, Jenkins sent a full-court pass to Uchidiuno for Brown’s first basket, followed by a clean alley-oop by Dabo for the next score.
But the Bears weren’t able to replicate their successes from the first half. After Uchidiuno extended Brown’s lead to 39-26, the Bears had a series of sloppy passes and Vermont mustered a 21-8 run to tie the game with 9 minutes left in the half. The pace turned chaotic and fast, a contrast to Brown’s calm and composed first half.
The Catamounts eventually surged ahead by 12 before O’Sullivan, Langham and Loughlin drove a late rally that cut the deficit to 5 with under 3 minutes remaining. With less than a minute left, Dabo came up with a huge block to keep Brown within 2.
With 32 seconds left in regulation, Jenkins drew a foul and calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 65. Vermont’s final attempt rimmed out, sending the game into overtime.
The first overtime period saw both teams trade baskets. Loughlin knocked down a 3-pointer to give Brown a 75-74 lead with just over a minute remaining, and Jenkins secured a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to put the Bears up 2. But Vermont answered with a buzzer-beating layup off an inbound play to force double overtime.
In the second overtime, Vermont’s sophomore forward Noah Barnett fouled out, and Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson ’27 knocked down a wide-open three with just over a minute left to keep Brown within striking distance. Despite the Bears’ gritty effort, Vermont guard TJ Hurley, with blood dripping from his nose, sealed the win with 2 free throws for the Catamounts, who were largely carried by guard TJ Long’s monster 40-point performance.
Although Brown had won all 3 tip offs, they couldn’t keep pace in the end.
“We had some breakdowns,” Martin said at a post-game press conference. “We tried to speed the game up a little bit with some pressure … and we weren’t good enough defensively.”
Still, Martin said he saw the game as an opportunity for growth. “We’ll learn. There (are) a ton of learning opportunities from today,” he said. But he acknowledged the team still has “a long way to go.”
Despite the loss, some players excelled on the court. Dabo remained a dominant force, finishing with a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds, alongside 3 blocks. Jenkins got his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, while Loughlin added 16 points. O’Sullivan followed up his strong debut with 11 points, and Uchidiuno notched a career-high 7 rebounds.
Brown will look to bounce back on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it faces off against Boston University (1-1, 0-0 Patriot League).
