The men's basketball team was holding on to a 69-63 lead in the final minute of last Saturday's game at Emory University, but guard Kevin Olson '09 foiled the Eagles' comeback hopes, burying a three-pointer in front of the Brandeis bench with three seconds left on the shot clock to give Brandeis a nine-point lead with less than a minute to play.The shot broke the Eagles' backs, as Brandeis held Emory without a field goal in the final minute en route to a 76-63 victory in the University Athletic Association matchup.

"We had [Emory], but they wouldn't give up," guard Andre Roberson '10 said. "[Olson's three-pointer] took a lot out of them. . It was kind of a dagger."

The win at Emory followed a 73-66 comeback win at Case Western Reserve University last Friday. Last Tuesday, the Judges upset No. 9 Amherst College 73-58 on the road, avenging their season-ending loss to Amherst in the NCAA National Quarterfinals last season.

The Judges have now won five in a row and stand at 11-5 on the season. They are second to No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis in the UAA standings with a 4-1 conference record and will face the Bears at home next Friday hoping to take over the UAA standings lead.

Against Emory, Brandeis held a 24-23 lead with 6 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first half, before going on a 10-2 run in the next three minutes of play. However, Emory answered the Brandeis run, outscoring the Judges 12-1 for the remainder of the half to tie the game at 35 at halftime.

Emory extended this run early in the second half, taking a 43-37 lead with 14:18 left to play. Brandeis was able to battle back, as forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD) and Roberson combined to score 12 unanswered points to give Brandeis the lead for good.

"Once [our team] saw [Emory go] on a little run, it lit a fire under [us] that made [us] play a little harder," assistant coach Eric McKoy said.

During DeLuca and Roberson's 12-point run, the two teamed up for a key fast-break three-pointer that gave Brandeis a 48-43 lead with 12:41 remaining. Roberson stole the ball from Emory junior forward Anthony Fernandez and found DeLuca open for the three-point attempt.

"I was just sprinting up the court, brought it up on the right wing, got my feet set, and the shot felt really good," DeLuca said.

Roberson finished the game with 18 points, hitting 10 of his 14 free throws to go along with six assists, five rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. DeLuca and Olson both added 17 points, hitting a combined nine three-pointers, while guard Kenny Small '10 had 11 points.

"A lot of guys in the league, due to [Roberson's] quickness, are not going to be able to keep up with him, so he uses that to his advantage, going by them and drawing a lot of contact once he gets to the hoop," McKoy said of Roberson's ability to get to the free-throw line.

Against Case Western, Brandeis fell behind 28-12 with under five minutes to play in the first half. Case Western sophomore guard Kevin Herring scored 19 of the Spartans' 28 points, including the Spartans' first 13 points of the game.

Brandeis was able to climb back into the game, answering with a 29-12 run to take a one-point lead with 10:32 to play in the second half.

From there, it was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading baskets. There were 15 lead changes and six ties down the stretch.

Roberson broke the gridlock with a jumper with 1:07 left to give Brandeis a 66-64 lead. Roberson and DeLuca would combine for seven free throws the rest of the way to give the Judges a 73-66 win.

"We drew up a play to give DeLuca the ball, but [Case Western] was under my screen and I was wide-open up top," Roberson said of the play that put Brandeis on top for good.

Roberson had 17 points, going nine-for-11 from the foul line, while DeLuca had 16 points, going eight-for-nine from the foul line.

"My shot wasn't exactly falling against Case, so I decided to take it to the hoop and I got to the line a lot," DeLuca said.

Brandeis went to the line a combined 68 times in the two games, with Roberson accounting for 25 of the attempts.

The Judges will host UAA leader and defending National Champion WashU Friday at 8 p.m. and then take on last year's UAA champion, the University of Chicago, this Sunday at noon.