With the men's basketball team trailing Framingham State College 51-49 with 5 minutes, 23 seconds left in the second half last Saturday, guard Florian Rexhepi '08 became the latest member of the Judges to hit a clutch shot in the waning minutes of a game. Rexhepi connected on a three-pointer from the corner to put Brandeis up for good in the back-and-forth contest, and despite missing seven free throws down the stretch, the No. 7 Judges held on for a 63-59 victory to improve to 6-0 on the season, following last Tuesday's 72-57 home win over Babson College.

"[Rexhepi's shot] was the boost that gave us enough of a second wind to pull out the win," coach Brian Meehan said. "He gives us great effort but has been struggling. Hopefully that will get him jumpstarted."

The Judges continue to play without injured forward Steve DeLuca '08, who has missed the last four games with lower back and right hamstring injuries. Meehan announced last Saturday that DeLuca will be sidelined for at least the remainder of the first semester, and possibly longer (See story, right).

Brandeis was able to overcome an eight-point second-half deficit to get the win, but despite starting with a 6-0 record for the second straight season, Rexhepi was concerned that the Judges have to resort to comeback efforts.

"We start [games] off strong and let go for some reason," he said. "We have to take the lead and hold the lead instead of losing it and trying to get it back."

The Judges built a 25-13 lead with 7:57 remaining in the first half against Framingham State, but the Rams went on a 34-14 run in the next 20 minutes, spanning two halves, and took a 47-39 lead with 11:42 to go in the game.

"[The Framingham game] was frustrating," guard Kevin Olson '09 said. "Defensively, we really didn't dictate the tempo, so we made it harder on ourselves. We have to consistently play hard for 40 minutes and not have a letdown when we are making a run."

Despite their struggles, the Judges were able to rally when it mattered most, going on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 47 when forward Terrell Hollins '10 beat a double-team and converted on the layup attempt.

After a Framingham State score, Olson drove through the Rams defense for a lay-up of his own to tie the game at 49, and after another Framingham State score, Rexhepi was able to give Brandeis a permanent lead with his three-pointer.

"We got down by eight and finally realized we needed to get a couple of stops and play defense like we can," guard Joe Coppens '08 said. "I don't know why we wait for these situations, but we've been doing it [and] getting the energy we needed."

Hollins and Olson led the offense, scoring 12 points each, while guards Andre Roberson '10 and Rexhepi each added 10 points. The Judges also had 41 rebounds, including 14 from Hollins.

Even with the victory, Meehan criticized the team's defensive performance this season. The Judges have allowed all but one of their first six opponents to hit at least 45 percent of their field goals.

"[Framingham State] is not the type of team that should give us a battle all the way to the buzzer," Meehan said. "It comes down to defensive effort. At times our pressure is fine, but other than the pressure, our defense has been awful. It the worst defense [we've played] including my first year here when we weren't a good basketball team."

Brandeis also uncharacteristically struggled offensively, hitting only 33.8 percent of its field goal attempts, 22.2 percent of its three-pointers and 51.7 percent of its free throws.

"We weren't taking good shots," Hollins said. "In order to start knocking down shots, we have to take some easy shots to get [into] a rhythm."

In last Tuesday's win over Babson College, the Judges built a 26-5 first-half lead and won 57-42, even though Babson was able to cut the advantage to seven with 6:41 left in the game.

Meehan hopes the Judges can play with more consistency as they face stronger nonconference foes. The Judges take on Clark University tonight at 7 p.m. and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth Thursday at 7 p.m. before their much anticipated tilt with top-ranked Amherst College Saturday at 4 p.m.

"Starting Tuesday night, we better be at our best or we'll be 6-4 before you can blink," he said.