Men's basketball team assistant coach Eric McKoy said guard Kenny Small '10 has been given the nickname "the microwave" for the instant offense he provides off the bench for the Judges. Small was cooking in the team's 97-70 rout at Emerson College last Saturday. After Brandeis led 46-25 with 2 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half, Emerson answered with a 24-10 run over the next eight minutes of play to cut the deficit to seven points just over five minutes into the second half.

But then Small, who ended the game with 14 points, converted a layup and hit a three-pointer from the right wing in front of the Brandeis bench on back-to-back possessions. This put the Judges up by 12 and sparked a 15-0 run over the next four minutes. The run gave the Judges a 71-49 lead with 11:11 left in the game.

"[Small's shot] was pretty huge for us," point guard Andre Roberson '10 said. "It just puts us back in our comfort zone."

With the victory, Brandeis eclipsed the .500 mark for the first time this season at 4-3. After a 0-3 start, the team has scored double-digit wins over their last four opponents, including a 75-61 win over then-No. 25 Rhode Island College last Thursday.

Against Emerson, the Judges set the tone early, starting the game with a 12-0 run in the first 5:46 of the half.

Brandeis shot a season-high 62.5 percent from the field, hitting 40 of 64 shot attempts. Only eight of the team's 64 attempts were from beyond the arc, while 27 of Emerson's 60 attempts were from three-point range.

"We pounded the ball inside. We got layup after layup after layup. It was a good game to go down low for us," McKoy said.

Hollins attributed the team's reliance on a low-post offense to Brandeis' height advantage over Emerson. Of the Judges' starting five, forwards Steve DeLuca (GRAD), Christian Yemga '11 and Hollins, as well as guard Kevin Olson '09 are at least 6 feet 4 inches tall. Meanwhile, only two players that saw action for Emerson were 6 feet 4 inches or more.

"That's our goal now [to play inside]," Hollins said. "Until teams start doubling down and starting bigger lineups we're going to do that, . and it's going to be a mismatch."

Hollins led Brandeis in scoring with a career-high 27 points. He added 14 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

"They couldn't stop [Hollins], so we just kept pounding it inside," Roberson said. "He just dominated on both ends of the court. He rebounded the ball. . He was getting open looks and finishing his layups."

Roberson had 18 points and six assists to go along with Small's 14 points.

DeLuca scored 11 points, all of which came in the first half. He played just 14 minutes overall and left the game for good early in the second half. McKoy said DeLuca "tweaked" his ankle but did not consider the injury to be serious and expects him back in the lineup for the team's next game today against Clark University.

Against Rhode Island College last Thursday, the Judges took a 40-27 lead at the half. Brandeis started the second half with a 9-0 run fueled by a three-pointer from Olson and capped with a dunk by DeLuca.

From there, the Judges never let the lead dip below 10 points en route to a 14-point victory.

Hollins led the way with a career-best 16 rebounds and seven assists to go along with 18 points, while DeLuca added 17 points and nine rebounds. Yemga chipped in with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Brandeis hosts Clark tonight at 7 p.m. and wraps up fall-semester action with a home game against Framingham State College Saturday at 1 p.m.