With the clock winding down in the men's basketball team's 68-53 second round NCAA tournament victory over Bowdoin College last Saturday, fans' chants of "warm up the bus!" filled Red Auerbach Arena. Upon the game's conclusion, players waved their arms in the air and embraced Brandeis' student section, walking off the court in the midst of Brandeis' deepest tournament run in three decades. The Judges' win over Bowdoin was preceded by an 80-59 victory over Lasell College in the first round last Friday. Brandeis has earned its first third-round berth since 1978 and will play at No. 7 State University of New York at Plattsburgh Friday at 8:15 p.m.

"It means a lot; it's pretty exciting [to advance]," forward Stephen Hill '08 said. "I was a little nervous before [the Bowdoin game] started; not that we wouldn't win, but I had the jitters because I knew we really wanted to get past where we were last [season]. We really wanted to do well, and I think that helped us focus."

In last Saturday's win, guard Joe Coppens '08 buried a three-pointer right before the half to give the Judges a 35-22 lead over Bowdoin. The Polar Bears responded with a 16-2 run to start the second half and took a 38-37 lead with 13 minutes left in regulation. The Judges missed all 10 of their field goal attempts during that stretch.

"[Brandeis] is a very, very good team, and we had to work extremely hard after getting in a hole like that to try to get ourselves back into the game," Bowdoin head coach Tim Gilbride told reporters after the game. "You knew at some point it would stop and [Brandeis] would probably . get things going again."

Two free throws from reserve guard Florian Rexhepi '08 allowed Brandeis to regain the lead, and over the next 1 minute, 15 seconds, reserve forward Rich Magee '10 changed the momentum with four points, two steals and one block.

Magee first intercepted Bowdoin senior guard Andrew Hippert's pass, and forward Terrell Hollins '09 fed him for a layup to increase the lead to three. On Bowdoin's next possession, Magee again stole the ball from Hippert in the backcourt and finished with an uncontested layup. Finally, after a Bowdoin timeout, Magee blocked Bowdoin senior forward Jordan Fliegel's layup attempt.

"I just really got into the game. I feel like I've kind of been in a funk for a little while, and it just felt really good to get back to playing the game like I can," Magee told reporters after the game.

Coppens and guard Kevin Olson '09 then hit back-to-back three-pointers in front of The Jury to increase Brandeis' lead from 47-42 to 53-42 with 6:05 left to play. The two finished with 14 and 15 points, respectively.

"It was big for us because they made a run and then Olson hit that three-we go up by double-digits and kind of demoralized them ... it kind of [took] them out of the game," Coppens told reporters.

Meehan credited the Judges' defense for the win. Brandeis has held each of its last three opponents-New York University, Lasell and Bowdoin-to under 60 points apiece. Bowdoin hit just two of nine three-point attempts against Brandeis after a 13-for-17 showing in its 79-49 first-round victory over Curry College last Friday.

"We play aggressive to begin with. [Bowdoin] worked hard [but] they just couldn't get open looks [from three-point range]," Meehan said. "We did a really incredible job overall [defensively]. Our team-as we did last year-coming down the stretch [is] really clicking on the defensive end of the floor."

In the first-round game, Lasell jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, which included an alley-oop dunk by junior forward Jose Guitian on the Lasers' first possession. Brandeis responded by taking the lead for good on two Magee free throws with 12:22 left in the first half.

Coppens said the Judges' tournament experience from last season helped in pacing themselves in the opening minutes.

"It wasn't something new for us anymore; we had been there. We had come in with a lot of energy, but it was focused and controlled energy, where last year it might have been a little out of control at times because you're really jacked up to play," Coppens told reporters last Friday.

After missing three layups in the game's first four minutes, Hollins was able to take advantage of open space inside with 16 points. Along with fellow forwards Hill, Magee and Christian Yemga '11, Hollins helped hold Guitian, who entered the game averaging 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, to just six of 17 shooting from the field.

Guards Rexhepi and Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 also played key roles in the victory. Rexhepi led the team with 19 points and personally outscored Lasell 11-3 for a six-minute stretch late in the second half that essentially put the game away. Graves-Fulgham had a career-high 14 assists, giving him sole possession of the school's all-time record.

Before the Judges' play Plattsburgh State Friday, No. 3 Amherst College takes on Richard Stockton College at 6 p.m. in the other regional semifinal, with the winners playing in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Saturday for a berth in the Final Four.