After Steve DeLuca '08 carried them all season long with his stellar play, the men's basketball team proved in their final game of the year that they can play even better as a team. The Judges ended their season with a resounding 70-46 home victory over New York University Feb. 25, but DeLuca, who led the team in scoring with 18.4 points a game this season, only scored six points. Picking up the slack, Joe Coppens '08, Rocco Toppi '08 and Kevin Olson '09 led a balanced offensive attack with 11 points each.
The team was coming off a 76-68 loss against University of Washington in St. Louis Feb. 15 followed by a 68-51 win Feb. 19 against the University of Chicago.
The Judges finished the season at 14-11 overall and 7-7 in conference play, both records identical to last season. They also finished tied with NYU and University of Rochester for fourth in the University Athletic Association.
"You want to create some momentum heading into next year," Coach Brian Meehan said. "We have an opportunity to compete to win the league, and I would be disappointed if this group didn't make postseason play [next year]."
Brandeis seized control early with an insurmountable 18-2 opening run, and shot 9-14 from three-point range.
"We shot the ball really well early and maintained it," Meehan said. "We need Toppi and Coppens to shoot the ball from the outside and to open everything up, and when they did, it made us a lot tougher to defend."
Another key in the blowout for Brandeis was crisp ball movement and a tremendous team-oriented effort overall on offense. The Judges committed just eight turnovers in the game and had assists on 17 of their 26 field goals.
"We really focused on moving the ball around and finding the open man, and it really worked well," DeLuca said.
The Judges displayed a similarly balanced attack against Chicago with four players in double figures for scoring. DeLuca had 18, while guards Florian Rexhepi '08 and Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 had 13 points apiece. Rexhepi, usually known for his scoring, was key to the Judges' stellar ball distribution in both earlier wins, notching nine assists against Chicago and eight against NYU, along with no turnovers in either contest.
"He struggled throughout the season with turnovers, partly because he is aggressive," Meehan said. "Clearly he was making great decisions in those last two games."
The Judges' loss to WashU was more reflective of their offensive play over the course of the season, with the team depending heavily on DeLuca for scoring and rebounding. DeLuca scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half, and brought the Judges to within 5 points of WashU in the final minutes, but the Judges fell short in the end.
Despite the team's desire for a more balanced offensive attack, it's hard to ignore the accomplishments of DeLuca's breakout season. The all-UAA first-team forward finished the year with averages of 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds a game, third and fifth in the UAA respectively, and was the top three-point shooter in the conference at over 50 percent.
"This year, he started to realize he was really good and became much more aggressive offensively," Meehan said. "All of a sudden, he was OK taking 15 shots."
DeLuca cited an early-season game against NYU as the turning point in his offensive philosophy.
"My coaches told me I had to take more shots, and I took 19 shots that game," DeLuca said. "We lost [79-75], but I realized that a lot of the burden was on my shoulders and I needed to change."
As the UAA Rookie Of The Year last season, Rexhepi, not DeLuca, was expected to be the Judges' top scoring threat this season. While he did not meet those expectations, finishing the year with an average of 11.4 points per game, Rexhepi visibly improved his play in other areas, including defense and passing.
"Some of the things I did this year I didn't do much last year, but some things I did last year I didn't do as well this season," Rexhepi said. "It will be a step for me to get better if I combine everything I have achieved so far."
Injuries in the frontcourt were a huge limiting factor for the Judges all season long. Jake Kaplan '08 was injured before the season started and never suited up, while center John Saucier '08 went down in the middle of the season for the second straight year. Steven Hill '08, Saucier's original replacement, finished the year injured too.
"Saucier's injury hurt us more than anything, because we need him playing for him to gain experience," Meehan said. "His progress was being thwarted by those injuries."
Rookies Olson and Huston Conti '09 showed potential weapons the Judges will have at the guard position in the near future. Olson in particular stepped up late in the season, with 14 points against Washington and 11 against NYU.
"[Olson] is by far the best shooter we've had in my time here," Meehan said. "He understands the game as well as anybody we have, and he plays really hard, it's just a matter of him maturing."
Under Meehan this year, the Judges polished off a second straight winning season for the first time since 1991-92.
"If I were to leave here tomorrow, I would leave here knowing that this thing is completely turned around," Meehan said. "Two years ago, we had very little talent and we were a gimme on the league schedule for a lot of teams. We are not the ugly duckling anymore, we have turned into that swan, and now we have to go make it happen.