In one game, they did it with defense. In the other, they did it with offense. Either way, the men's basketball team's weekend homestand against the University Athletic Association's bottom-feeders proved a success. Fueled by strong play from their bench, the Judges used a suffocating defense to defeat Emory University 74-50 Sunday and an efficient offense to beat Case Western Reserve University 85-68 Friday. Brandeis improved to 13-3 on the season and 3-2 in UAA play.

The Judges' bench, led by rookie guards Andre Roberson '10 and Kenny Small '10, provided a spark in the win over Emory. Roberson finished just two rebounds shy of a triple-double, posting 10 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and only one turnover in 29 minutes of action. Small added 13 points and seven rebounds, and starters Steve DeLuca '08 and Florian Rexhepi '08 also scored in double figures with 19 and 10 points, respectively.

"This was probably the best game I've played all season," Roberson said. "I'm starting to feel better with my shot, and I'm feeling much more comfortable out there."

After Emory sophomore center Johnny Pinto pulled the Eagles to within 12-9 on a layup with 12:05 remaining, the Judges broke the game open, holding the Eagles scoreless for nearly six minutes during a 24-8 run to end the half. Roberson, who came in early after starting point guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 picked up two quick fouls, had eight points and eight assists before the break as the Judges built a 39-18 halftime lead.

DeLuca, the team's leading scorer at 14.9 points per game, was held in check for most of the first half, but eventually came alive to break the Eagles' backs. With the Judges leading 28-14 with 4:16 remaining before halftime, DeLuca grabbed a defensive rebound, took a handoff from Roberson on the other end and drained a three-pointer to put Brandeis up by 17 points. On the very next possession, with the shot clock winding down, DeLuca stepped back and hit another three-pointer with a defender in his face to give the Judges a 20-point lead.

"The shot clock was running down, so I tried to go left, but we needed to get a shot up," DeLuca said of his second three-pointer.

Despite shooting just 39 percent from the field, the Judges won definitively thanks to defense and rebounding. Brandeis held the Eagles to 34.6 percent shooting from the field-including 1-12 on the three-pointers-and pounded Emory on the glass to the tune of a 48-32 advantage. The rebounding performance was no small feat, as the Eagles had previously out-rebounded New York University, the top rebounding team in all of Division III.

"Our biggest concern was that Emory has done a really good job rebounding the ball on the offensive end, but our guys all made sure to go in there and crash the glass," coach Brian Meehan said.

In Friday's win over Case, the Judges scored 21 points in the first eight minutes and shot nearly 50 percent from the field in a virtuoso offensive performance. Twelve different Judges scored in the game, and Brandeis withstood 24 points from Spartan sophomore guard Steve Young to get the win.

The Judges led by as many as 16 points in the first half before a late Spartan run cut the lead to nine entering halftime. But that was as close as the Spartans got.

"We had a five-minute letdown at the end of the first half defensively, but other than that, I felt we did a great job," Meehan said. "We were intense, active and took them out of everything they wanted to do."

After hosting the UAA's two weakest teams this weekend, the Judges hit the road to face the conferences best squads next week. The Judges face first-place and No. 13-ranked Washington University in St. Louis at 8 p.m. Friday. The Bears' lone loss on the season came back on Nov. 26. Following that contest, the Judges travel to face second-place University of Chicago Sunday at 12 p.m. The Maroons' only UAA loss came to the Bears on Jan. 6.