Wojcik Scores Career-High 17 Points, Brown Shoots Past Sacred Heart Sunday

Brown University Press Release

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown men’s basketball team defeated Sacred Heart 79-66 Sunday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center for the Bears’ third straight victory. Paxson Wojcik led the way with a career-high 17 points.

“Very pleased with our performance, especially the last 35 minutes of the game,” head coach Mike Martin said. “Sacred Heart has played a tough schedule, they have some good wins, and we have a lot of respect for that program. After the initial burst by Thomas, we made them work for everything.

“I think one of the strengths of our team is balance and depth and you saw that with our bench today. Kino, Kimo, and Nana gave us a huge lift after a tough start. It was also probably the best passing we’ve had all year from an offensive standpoint. There are certainly still some things to improve upon, but overall, really happy.”

Nana Owusu-Anane had 12 points and six rebounds, while Kimo Ferrari had eight points, a team-high five assists, and was +31 off the bench. Tamenang Choh contributed 11 points and six rebounds and Kino Lilly Jr. had nine points and four assists.

As Martin pointed out, the Bears did a good job sharing the ball and finding the open man and as a result, posted 17 assists as a team, their highest single-game total since they had 19 against Johnson & Wales.

The Pioneers got out to a quick 11-5 lead to start the game on the back of three threes and two free throws by Tyler Thomas. But from there, Brown would score the next 10 points and 17 of the next 21 to take the 22-15 lead with eight minutes to go in the first.

Threes by Wojcik and Ferrari closed out the scoring in the first half and gave the Bears the 43-33 advantage headed into the break. As a team, Brown shot 63% from the floor in the first half and 46.7% from three.

The Bears’ lead was never in danger in the second half, as SHU would cut the deficit to nine at the 16:11 mark, but never got any closer. A bucket by Choh with 4:58 remaining in the game pushed Brown’s lead to a game-high 19, but the Pioneers would add a few late buckets leading the Bears to prevail by 13.

On the day, Brown was 31-for-52 (59.6%) from the floor and 10-for-26 (38.5%) from three.

The Bears have a quick turnaround as they hit the road to face Merrimack in North Andover, Mass. this Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.