While the men's basketball team only trailed Worcester Polytechnic Institute by six points, 34-28, at the half last Saturday on the road, their hopes of mounting a comeback slowly unraveled with the onset of the second half.Fueled by two three-pointers, WPI went on a 10-3 run in the first five minutes, 14 seconds of the second half, which gave the Engineers a 44-31 lead. WPI never looked back, handing Brandeis a 78-64 loss.

"A lot of times we just left guys wide open so that they would hit [three-pointers]," assistant coach Eric McKoy said.

Brandeis, with its season-opening 68-66 loss at Lasell College last Tuesday, fell to 0-2 on the season. Both Lasell and WPI were NCAA Tournament participants last season, but the Judges still must face three more NCAA teams-the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth today, Rhode Island College Dec. 4 and Amherst College Jan. 15-in addition to conference play.

"It's pretty unimaginable; I didn't foresee this one happening," guard Kevin Olson '09 said of the team's 0-2 start.

The Judges jumped out to an early 8-3 lead four minutes into the game, behind two three-pointers from guard Tyrone Hughes '12, but this was the largest lead Brandeis would have the entire night.

WPI took the lead for good midway through the first half on two free throws from sophomore forward Ben Etten, which gave the Engineers a 13-12 lead. From there, WPI increased the lead to six by halftime and to as many as 17 points at five different occasions in the second half.

One of these 17-point advantages came courtesy of a fast-break layup by WPI senior guard Jerome Kirkland, which gave his team a 59-42 advantage with 9:05 left to play. Kirkland intercepted a pass from forward Vytas Kriskus '12 intended for Hughes and dribbled three-quarters of the court for the uncontested basket.

"[Kirkland] was a good, quick guard. All of them-they really pressure, and they play hard and they get up in you. . [Kirkland] does a good job of that," Olson said.

Forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD), who notched a team-high 16 points in the season opener against Lasell, led the team with 18 points and tied for the team lead with six rebounds against WPI.

Hughes chipped in 11 points, while Olson tallied 10 points. Kriskus added eight points in the first half and was one of just four Judges to score in the first half along with DeLuca (seven points), Hughes (seven points) and Olson (six points).

Forward Terrell Hollins '10, who played 12 minutes off the bench, fouled out of the game with just over four minutes left in play.

Head coach Brian Meehan attributed the team's struggles to a need to adjust and play as a group.

"Nobody's at their best right now; everybody's struggling," Meehan said. "We're trying to find an identity, we're trying to figure out how best to play with each other, and it's just not there yet."

McKoy thought one of the contributing factors to the loss was the team's "lack of communication" on the court.

"We weren't talking or communicating as much as we needed to," he said. "We weren't doing what we needed to do on offense, which was pound the ball inside. We were breaking down plays and rushing shots too much."

A bright spot for the Judges this season has been Hughes' play. After totaling 10 points, four rebounds and two steals coming off the bench against Lasell, he was rewarded with a spot in the starting lineup against WPI, replacing guard Kenny Small '10.

"He's really quick, so it's hard for everyone to stay in front of him," DeLuca said. "He's been taking it to the [hoop], getting to the free throw line. He's been doing a good job."

Brandeis will play UMass-Dartmouth tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Judges' home opener before facing Tufts University Sunday at 2 p.m. UMass-Dartmouth handed the Judges their first loss of last season.