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Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.

Men have been road warriors as of late

Published: February 10, 2006
Section: Sports


Steve DeLucas 08 Sunday afternoon performances continue to outdo themselves. The trend continued last Sunday in Cleveland, where the Judges rode DeLucas 08 career high 35 to a 74-70 overtime triumph over Case Western Reserve.

Cases (10-10, 2-7) losing streak plummeted to 5, while Brandeis (12-8,5-4) is still in the hunt.

At intermission Case held a 38-28 advantage which was upped to 13 at one point. Yet the Judges bounced back to create a 65-65 deadlock and force the OT session. The Judges D rose to the occasion, limiting Case to fire at a 22.6% shooting rate in the second stanza. It got so bad that Case went 0 for the last 10 minutes from the floor. Brandeis did its part on offense, converting 13 of 23 shots in the second half.
The other factor in the comeback was that the Judges took care of business at the free throw line. When two Spartans (Carson Oren and Mason Conrad) picked up technical fouls, De Luca 08 capitalized by hitting 5 of 6 free throw attempts. Case was primed to settle things in regulation when Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 made a layup with ll ticks remaining to knot up the score at 65.

Brandeis outscored Case 9-5 in the overtime period, which was jumpstarted by a Rocco Toppi 08 three-pointer, followed by sound Brandeis free throw shooting.
Brandeis had pulled out to an early lead behind Florian Rexhepi 08, who punched in six points in as many minutes. That lead would be tenuousm, as over the next six minutes the Spartains went on a 19-7 rampage to establish a 23-15 advantage at the 9:49 mark. Brandeis was never able to regain the lead before halftime, as they only connected on 11 of 33 shots.

Joe Coppens 08 had another productive outing, registering 17 points. Matt Cannan had 11 points and 12 boards for the Spartans.
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Emory put forth their own version of southern hospitality against the Judges last Friday night. It came in the form of playing lackluster basketball, enabling the visitors to gain valuable ground in the UAA standings with a 69-41 romp.
This was a grudge match between the two UAA rivals. Only five days earlier, the Judges knocked off Emory 77-70 in Waltham.

The Brandeis starting five was at the front and center of the attack, outscoring Emorys starters 46-23. The trouncing of their southern rivals marked the sixth time in as many games that the Judges have defeated Emory under Coach Meehans watch.

Two guards, Rexhepi 08 and Huston Conti 09, scored 12 points each while swingman Coppens 08 chipped in with 11 points. His classmate Stephen Hill 08 had 9 of the Judges 40 caroms, which easily surpassed Emorys total of 28. Brandeis defense was stifling throughout, only permitting Emory to convert at a 27 percent clip.

Spiros Ferderigos paced Emory with 15 points and senior co-captain Jeff Hall chipped in with 12 points in his first game back from injury.