The Justice

Media Credit: Rachel Corke Coach Brian Meehan, center, instructs his team during a timeout in the team's win over Bowdoin College.

It was a cliché repeated in several different forms throughout the men's basketball team's first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games, to the point where any competent reporter would become skeptical of its merits. Coach Brian Meehan said it, Brandeis players did, and even the Judges' opponents uttered the phrase.

"Brandeis has so many weapons that anyone can beat you on any night," they would say. "You can't just focus on one guy," they would continue.

But where other clichés ring hollow, this one is completely accurate when describing the Judges' furthest NCAA Tournament run in three decades.

In the Judges' 68-53 second-round win over Bowdoin College last Saturday, it was backup center Rich Magee '10, not all-University Athletic Association honorees Joe Coppens '08 or Terrell Hollins '10, who turned back a 16-2 Polar Bear surge with two steals and a block. One day earlier, in the Judges' 80-59 first-round win over Lasell College, it was backup guard Florian Rexhepi '08, resurgent after a forgettable senior season that saw him lose his starting spot, who carried the Judges' offense with 19 points.

And those are just two examples. What about backup rookie forward Christian Yemga's '11 defense on Lasell star forward Jose Guitian in the Judges' first-round win? Or how about the fact that when the Polar Bears cut the Judges' lead to five points midway through the second half last Saturday, it was four different players-Coppens, guard Kevin Olson '09, forward Stephen Hill '08 and Hollins-who contributed baskets that pushed the lead back to double digits. Finally, what about the devastating point guard tandem of Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 and Andre Roberson '10, the former of which set the school's career assist record in last Friday's win?

"The guys [Brandeis] brings off the bench are really good, too," Lasell coach Aaron Galletta told reporters last Friday. "They'd be starting on some other teams."

A balanced attack was not the best way to describe the Judges of the past two seasons. Two years ago, all-University Athletic Association forward Steve DeLuca '08 averaged 18.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, but the Judges had just one other player average double-figure points and sputtered to a 14-11 record.

Continued...

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