The Bears have always been a persistent thorn in the side of the men's basketball team, having defeated the Judges 29 times in a row heading into what could have been No. 30 Sunday at home against Washington University in St. Louis. With a four-point lead midway through the third overtime of an epic University Athletic Association showdown, it appeared the Bears would triumph again. Instead, Brandeis rallied to pull off a huge victory in a must-win game.

Fueled by a small lineup featuring four guards and forward Steve DeLuca '08, the Judges snapped a three-game losing streak with an 81-75 triple-overtime victory over the Bears, who came in tied for first place in the UAA and ranked No. 7 in the country.

The win, coming after a 74-69 loss Friday to No. 19 University of Chicago in which the Judges lost their second-leading scorer and rebounder to a seaon-ending injury (see sidebar, page 13), moved the Judges to 14-6 overall and 4-5 in conference play.
Sunday's win couldn't have come at a better time. After starting the season with nine straight victories outside the conference, the Judges had strayed far from their winning course during UAA play, dropping three straight games and five of their last eight before Sunday. Friday's loss to Chicago was the team's first home loss of the season, and dreams of playing in the NCAA tournament were fading fast. But this victory restored hope.

"We're the second-best team in New England, but in the league, we've struggled," coach Brian Meehan said. "It's about time we got a big win."

The Judges took the lead for good with 1 minute, 15 seconds remaining in the third overtime. Guard Kevin Olson '09 missed a three-pointer, and Wash U rookie forward Cameron Smith grabbed the rebound. But point guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 swarmed Smith defensively, forcing a turnover. The ball trickled underneath the basket to Joe Coppens '08, who picked it up, laid it in, drew the foul and completed the three-point play to give the Judges a three-point lead. It punctuated a career-high 24-point afternoon for Coppens.

The Bears had a chance to tie on the next possession, but freshman guard Aaron Thompson missed an open three-pointer. DeLuca hit a jumper with the shot clock winding down to give the Judges a five-point lead with 24 seconds left, sealing the victory.

"You hate to lose a game like this, but that's the beauty of the league," Bears coach Mark Edwards said. "On any given day, anyone can beat anyone."

Brandeis trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, but rallied to tie the game at 50 after Andre Roberson '10 converted a three-point play with 3:15 remaining. The Judges took the lead on two free throws by Coppens with 19 seconds left, but Bears sophomore point guard Sean Wallis converted on a bank shot with 3.5 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Judges had another shot to win at the end of the first overtime. Roberson hit a jumper to give Brandeis a 62-60 lead, but Smith tied the game with 2.8 seconds left on a long jumper from the top of the key. Smith's fallaway jumper at the end of the second overtime hit the front of the rim, keeping the game tied at 67.

The Judges showed composure throughout the overtime periods with wise shot selection.
"We took shots we knew we could make," Roberson said.

Junior center Troy Ruths gave the Bears a four-point advantage with 3:31 remaining in the last overtime before the Judges rallied once again. Kevin Olson '09 and Roberson hit consecutive three-pointers, and after Bears' senior guard Nick Nikitas tied the game at 73, the stage was set for Coppens' heroics.

"Our guys don't quit," Meehan said. "They're always willing to make an effort to come back in a game."

After Steve Hill '08 fouled out midway through the second overtime, the Judges went small, playing a four-guard lineup of Graves-Fulgham, Roberson, Olson, and Coppens. The switch left them at a size disadvantage on defense, but it was clearly effective offensively.

"[The lineup] worked well because we out-hustled [Wash U] on defense, and they couldn't guard us," Olson said. "We were trying to spread them out, and they gave us a lot of space to shoot threes."

In Friday's loss, Chicago jumped ahead 14-2 early and led by as many as 13 in the second half before holding on for the victory.

Trailing 57-47 with 9:40 remaining, Brandeis went on a 13-2 run and took a one-point lead on DeLuca's three-pointer with 5:09 left. However, the Maroons took the lead for good on a three-point play by junior forward Nate Hainje.

"You can't let a team get 12 points ahead because it takes such an effort to come back," Meehan said.

The Judges finish their home schedule next week with games against Carnegie-Mellon University 8 p.m. Friday and the University of Rochester 12 p.m. Sunday.