After dropping five of its first eight University Athletic Association contests last season, players and coaches alike on the men's basketball team stressed the importance of starting strongly in this year's slate of conference games.The Judges did just that, and their 66-56 win at New York University last Saturday marked the first time the team started UAA play with a win in coach Brian Meehan's five-year tenure at Brandeis.

With the victory, the No. 2 Judges improved to 11-1, matching the 1956-1957 squad for the best start in school history following the team's 96-94 overtime win over Elms College Jan. 7.

"[The NYU win] was huge for us," guard Andre Roberson '10 said. "We knew that we had to jump out and try to stay on top of the league right away. We knew coming in that a road victory in the league was very valuable."

NYU hit five three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of play, giving the Violets an early 19-10 advantage. Brandeis slowly cut into the deficit, eventually taking the lead for good when forward Rich Magee '10 converted a layup with 4 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the first half to move the score to 27-25.

"We were never really able to get out [and] get on a run," Meehan said. "It was one of those games where we just had to chip away and then we finally caught [NYU] at 25. We took the lead at the half and just grinded it out from there."

While 10 of NYU's 17 field goals were three-pointers, the Judges were able to adjust to NYU's perimeter-based offensive style in the win.

"We locked down on our shooters," Roberson said. "We forced them to go to the basket, which they were very uncomfortable doing. NYU wanted to slow the ball down and utilize their offense, but they couldn't adjust to our tempo in the second half."

Brandeis built a double-digit lead early in the second half, but NYU cut the Judges lead to just 51-49 with 6:32 remaining in regulation.

Guard Kevin Olson '09 dribbled up the middle of the court and fed guard Joe Coppens '08. With the shot clock winding down, Coppens buried a three-pointer from the right wing to put Brandeis up by five and effectively end NYU's comeback attempt.

Coppens led Brandeis in scoring with 17 points, while adding six rebounds and four steals.

The bench aided the cause with 23 points as a unit, including 17 of the team's 34 first-half points.

Forwards Terrell Hollins '10 and Stephen Hill '08 got in early foul trouble, but reserve forwards Christian Yemga '11 and Magee combined for 41 minutes of action, and reserve guards Roberson and Florian Rexhepi '08 added eight and six points, respectively.

"[The bench play] was real good," Hollins said. "When guys got in foul trouble the bench came in, and there wasn't a let down. I think the bench played better than the starters did."

Last Saturday's win came on the heels of the dramatic 96-94 win over Elms College. Coppens had a career-high 37 points, while Roberson sank a game-winning three-pointer with three seconds left in overtime.

Brandeis heads to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh this Friday at 8 p.m. before Sunday's anticipated tilt against top-ranked Rochester University on the road at noon. The Yellow Jackets are 12-0 and have defeated opponents by an average margin of victory of 17.5 points.