Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick Injured forward Steve DeLuca '08 consoles guard Joe Coppens '08 after the team's loss to Amherst College.

PLATTSBURGH, NY-After every practice this season, members of the men's basketball team ran six sprints, representing the number of NCAA tournament victories needed for a Division III championship.

In the end, although their tournament run was the longest in school history, the Judges fell three victories and two rounds shy of that goal.

No. 5 Brandeis fell to No. 3 Amherst College 65-55 in the Round of Eight last Saturday, one night after defeating host No. 7 State University in New York at Plattsburgh 74-63 in the Round of 16. A win over Amherst would have sent the Judges to Salem, VA for the Final Four, but instead, they finished the season 23-6.

"We were devastated after the game was over," forward Stephen Hill '08 said. "I don't want to say you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone-because we knew all along we had something special-but it kind of hit home how much I was going to miss playing with guys like Joey [Coppens '08], [John Saucier '08], Flo [Rexhepi '08], and Kwame [Graves-Fulgham '08]."

Still, the team's 23 wins were a school record, and this season marked the first time in the program's history that the Judges advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. They accomplished those feats without injured forward Steve DeLuca '08, a two-time all-University Athletic Association first-team selection, for all but two games this season.

"From this point forward, every [Brandeis] team is going to be measured to this team," coach Brian Meehan told reporters last Saturday. "Everyone is going to have to set the bar to [this team] and achieve beyond [them]."

Brandeis held a 29-24 lead at the half against Amherst last Saturday, but did not score a single point over a 9 minute, 26 second stretch in the second half, combining for 13 missed shots, three missed free throws and six turnovers during that span. Meanwhile, Amherst went on a 17-0 run to take a 49-36 lead with 9:38 remaining.

Amherst senior center Kevin Hopkins dunked the ball to give the Lord Jeffs the lead for good with 15:03 remaining, and junior forward Brandon Jones and Hopkins followed with dunks on Amherst's next two possessions to increase its lead to 42-36.

Continued...

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