After the men's basketball team converted a season-low 34.7 percent of its shots in a 65-54 win over Emory University last Friday at home, the Judges responded with a historic shooting performance in a 108-78 win against Case Western Reserve University last Sunday.Brandeis converted 38 of 52 field goal attempts against Case Western, including going 16 of 22 from three-point range. The 73.1 field goal percentage broke the University Athletic Association conference record of 68.2, previously held by Washington University in St. Louis in a game against the University of Rochester in 1991.

"We pushed the ball [against Case Western]. We extended the defense; we got each other open," guard Kenny Small '10 said. "We tried to get out there and run, . and everything worked the way we wanted it to."

Brandeis stands at 16-8 on the season and 9-4 in the conference, good for second place in the UAA. The team also topped No. 21 Carnegie Mellon University 66-63 and the University of Rochester, 80-63 on the road on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, respectively.

Riding a four-game win streak, Brandeis kept its postseason hopes alive, having cracked the top 10 in the latest NCAA New England regional rankings.

Against Case Western, Brandeis built an early 25-10 lead as the team started off the game a perfect nine-for-nine shooting, including three three-pointers apiece from guard Kevin Olson '09 and forward Steve DeLuca (GRAD).

The Judges missed just five shots in the first half, building a 62-43 halftime lead. The 62 points nearly equaled the team's 65-point two-half output against Emory.

"Did we miss [against Case Western]?" joked assistant coach Eric McKoy. "[We] came out on fire; [we] shot the ball very well."

After hitting just four of 11 baskets against Emory, Olson made all six of his field goal attempts in the first half against Case Western.

"I was feeling good, and guys were looking for me. I tried to be active and did a good job of moving and they were setting screens," Olson said. "I wanted to respond; I didn't do too well [against Emory]."

Leading 89-66 with just under eight minutes to play, Brandeis went on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes to put the Spartans away. A three-pointer from DeLuca during the 15-0 run put the Judges over the century mark in scoring for the first time since 2004.

With 2 minutes, 54 seconds left in the game, head coach Brian Meehan removed DeLuca and Olson from the game, allowing the two to receive a standing ovation from both the crowd and the Brandeis bench in both of their final regular-season home games.

"It didn't really hit me until I came out with [Olson] at the end of the game. I was like . I'm not going to play here again," DeLuca said.

Small led the way with a career-high 24 points, while Olson and DeLuca chipped in with 23 and 22 points respectively. The trio of Small, Olson, and DeLuca made 23 of 27 shots.

The 108 points is the most scored by Brandeis since the 1994-1995 season. The 16 three-pointers made is just one shy of tying the University of Chicago's UAA team record for most three-pointers hit in one game.

Olson was honored before the game as part of senior day festivities. DeLuca, a graduate student, partook in the ceremonies last season.

Against Emory, Brandeis fell behind 25-20 with just under four minutes to play in the first half. However, a 10-3 run to close the half gave Brandeis a lead it would never relinquish.

Clinging to a 38-37 advantage five minutes into the second half, the Judges were able to push the lead to as many as 14, before holding on for the 11-point victory.

While Emory out-shot Brandeis 42 percent to 34.7 percent, the Judges hit 28 of 33 foul shots, while Emory hit just eight of nine attempts.

"I'm just trying to . take the ball to the hoop. That's what we're trying to do when the shots aren't falling," DeLuca said, after hitting just 3 of 15 shots, but converting all five of his free throw attempts. "We can play different styles. If the shots are not falling we know what to do."

Small led the way again with 18 points and has averaged 16.3 points per game since being inserted back into the starting lineup against Carnegie Mellon Feb. 13,

McKoy said that Small's "quickness" has aided the Judges against bigger, more post-oriented UAA teams.

"To a certain point it has helped in the UAA with guys trying to match-up with us. We're just a little too quick for them to guard us on the perimeter," McKoy said.

Brandeis travels to New York University this Saturday at 4 p.m. for its final regular season game.