After posting its first loss of the season last Tuesday, the men's basketball team bounced back in resounding fashion last Sunday, trouncing Vassar College by a score of 79-52 for its largest win of the season. The Judges, now 3-1 on the season, posted double-digit margins in both halves and shot a season high 59.6 percent from the field. The home win followed the 92-82 road loss to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth earlier in the week.

Against Vassar, the Judges were led by a 19-point effort from forward Terrell Hollins '10, their fourth different scoring leader in as many games.

Coach Brian Meehan was pleased with his team's play against a young team in Vassar.

"I thought we did a nice job rebounding the ball," Meehan said. "For the most part, we ran pretty good offense, and for the most part, although we had some defensive breakdowns, did a good enough job against a young team. It was a good game to have after a holiday break. Everything worked out pretty well."

Forward Vytas Kriskus '12 added 16 points off of the bench for Brandeis, while guard Tyrone Hughes '12 chipped in 10 points and a game-high four steals.

Center Rich Magee '10 had 9 points for the squad, all coming in the first half to help the Judges build a 12-point first-half lead. Overall, the Brandeis starting frontcourt outscored the Brewers' 28-7.

The Judges' inside game played a huge role in the victory, as they outscored Vassar 38-10 on points in the paint and had a 14-6 advantage in second-chance points. They also had a 29-26 advantage in total rebounds.

Starting guard Andre Roberson '10 led the team in rebounds with six and also scored six points, while adding a team-high six assists as well.

The Brewers were led by a game-high 31-point effort by sophomore guard Caleb McGraw. McGraw had 17 of Vassar's 26 points at the break and shot 11 for 24 from the field overall but received little help from his teammates.

The frontcourt tandem of Hollins and Magee combined for 17 points im the first half as well, which offset McGraw's effort.

Against UMass-Dartmouth, Judges' guard Kenny Small '10 had a career-high 38 points Small's impressive total matched the highest point total a men's player has had during head coach Brian Meehan's seven-year tenure with the squad.

"Kenny has the athletic ability," Meehan said. "He was the beneificary of good passes. He finished really well when he was going strong to the basketball. He hit his shots and had a great game. What we are looking for Kenny is to do that every game."

Small went 13 for 21 from the field, including 3 of 8 from behind the 3-point line. He also hit nine of 11 shots from the free-throw line.

The Corsairs built a 35-11 lead midway through the first half but Brandeis fought hard to cut the halftime deficit to seven.

However, UMass-Dartmouth opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 57-42 lead. Though the Judges battled back to cut the lead to as low as 3, they were never able to tie the score or take the lead.

Meehan thought his team was inconsistent in its loss to the Corsairs.

"We played well at times and played extremely poorly," he said. "It was one extreme to another. ... It was a disappointing effort overall because we thought it was a game we thought we could have gone in and won."

Hollins and Roberson joined Small in double figures with 10 points apiece, while Kriskus and Magee each dropped in 8.

Just as he did in the game against Vassar, Roberson led the team in rebounds and assists, grabbing six boards and dishing five assists. He did, though, have a game-high 10 turnovers, though the Corsairs turned the ball over 24 times to the Judges' 23.

Brandeis dropped the game despite winning the turnover battle, having more steals and free throws, and out-rebounding UMass-Dartmouth.

What ultimately hurt the men's team was a disparity in shooting percentages.

UMass-Dartmouth shot exactly 10 percent higher than Brandeis from the field, connecting on 56.6 percent of their shots.

The Corsairs also managed to hit 13 of their 25 three-point attempts, while Brandeis hit only four of 15.

Down the road, Meehan wants his team to play more consistently and improve on both sides of the ball.

"We need to become much more consistent and be much more concerned about what we do, regardless of who the opposition is," Meehan said. "We have to be a lot better defensively ... We need to get better at half court offense too."

The Judges will play four games this week, starting tonight as they visit the Clark University Cougars in Worcester, Mass.

Meehan will go for his 100th victory as the Judges' head coach as he goes against his alma mater at Clark, where he also served as an assistant coach from 1990 to 1991.

The team also travels to Framingham State University on Thursday before competing in the Big Four Challenge at Tufts University over the weekend.

The four games this week will conclude the team's play for the semester. The team will resume action on Jan. 4 at Curry College.

-Josh Asen contributed reporting.