The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick Forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD) handles the ball and goes toward the basket during the Judges' 67-36 home victory over the University of Chicago Feb. 1.

With the men's basketball team leading the University of Chicago 27-12 at halftime in last Sunday's home game, forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD) said, that during the intermission, the team emphasized the need to "come out strong" in the first five minutes of the second half.

"We didn't want to let [Chicago] back into the game," DeLuca said. "If we can contain them, then we pretty much got them."

Brandeis built the lead to 19 points after five minutes of play in the second half, and with 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Judges held a 46-17 advantage with the help of three three-pointers from guard Kevin Olson '09. They eventually coasted to a 67-36 conference win.

The win came on the heels of an 80-75 loss last Friday at home to No. 2 Washington University in St. Louis. Brandeis now stands at 12-6 on the season and 5-2 in conference play, alone in second place trailing only WashU in the University Athletic Association standings after the University of Rochester and Carnegie Mellon University both lost last Sunday.

"It was good that we bounced back after a tough loss [to WashU]. We needed this," Olson said of the win over Chicago.

Brandeis had built an early 13-4 lead midway through the first half, as the Maroons managed only one field goal during this stretch.

Chicago cut the lead to 13-10 with 6 minutes, 31 seconds left before halftime, but Brandeis finished out the half with a 14-2 run capped by two three-pointers from DeLuca.

"We just established ourselves offensively and defensively [during the 14-2 run]," guard Andre Roberson '10 said. "Our shots started to fall for us and on defense we got out there and we really attacked them."

After Brandeis had built a 46-17 lead with 12 minutes to go, the coaching staff began to rest the starters. Rookie forward Vytas Kriskus '12 led the team with 15 points in 18 minutes of play, including a one-handed dunk in the final minute that put an exclamation point on the Judges' second 30-point conference victory of the season, with the first coming against New York University Jan. 17.

Continued...

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