After the No. 20 Brandeis men's basketball team upset No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis on the road in overtime on Friday night, the Judges had a chance to do something only one other UAA team in history had ever done: sweep the Midwest road trip against WashU and the University of Chicago. Coach Brian Meehan let the team know about this opportunity as extra motivation before their Sunday game against the Maroons."I just wanted them to understand that there's something to shoot for. Don't be satisfied with just winning one game when you come on this road trip; let's try to get two," Meehan said.

And the Judges pulled it off, defeating Chicago 75-69 to move to 2-1 in the University Athletic Association. The Judges' overall record now stands at 11-2 after they defeated Bates College last Tuesday 81-57.

"It's a very, very difficult trip to come out and win two games, so us being the second team to do so . speaks a lot about what our guys did this weekend," Meehan said. "They kind of took the challenge and went with it. You squeak out the big win on Friday, and now you have the chance to get out of here with two. Most teams are very happy just getting one, so it's obviously a good feeling and the kids really worked hard to get that."

The Judges led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Maroons were able to cut the deficit to four by halftime. Chicago then came back to tie the game, and the lead went back and forth until two free throws by guard Andre Roberson '10 gave the Judges the lead for good with 13 minutes, 3 seconds left in the game.

Roberson was the Judges' leading scorer for the game with 24 points, including going 8-for-10 from 2-point range.

"[Sunday] was one of the first games of the year that I really felt confident and just relaxed out there," Roberson said. "I just took what the defense gave me, I thought I hit my open shots, and I was able to knock down some buckets early on that really put me over the top."

But Roberson was not alone as the Judges had three other players in double figures: guards Tyrone Hughes '12 had 16, guard Kenny Small '10 has 12 and forward/guard Vytas Kriskis '12 had 11. Hughes added four steals and three assists while playing the full 40 minutes for the first time in his career.

Brandeis forced 10 Maroon turnovers in the second half compared to just five in the first half.

Meehan said he knew his teamwould be tired from the long road trip, so he planned their strategy accordingly.

"We decided that we had about we had about one-half of a mountain ofenergy to press, so we waited until the second half," Meehan added. "We confused them, we forced them into turnovers. Some of the turnovers led to easy baskets for us, so any time we can get those easy baskets, it really helps our cause."

On Friday night, the Judges upset two-time defending national champion WashU in overtime by a score of 58-55. Brandeis trailed by as much as 6 in the first half but eventually came back to tie the game with 9:25 left in the half. They then took a 9-point lead on a fastbreak layup by Hughes, but the Bears pulled it within 30-26 at the break.

The Bears came back to tie the score twice in the second half before both teams went on a 4-minute drought without scoring.

At one point, the Bears had the ball for six consecutive possessions down by 1 or tied but could not take the lead. A three-pointer from Kriskus finally gave the Judges the lead once again with 3:59 left in regulation, but the Bears came back to send the game into overtime.

"We knew that [WashU] runs this offense that is one of the toughest offenses to guard in the country, so we just tried to buckle down and stay composed and help each other out in every aspect of the game," Roberson said. "We were covering them, making them take tough shots, and it kind of bent in our favor."

The Judges never trailed in overtime, leading by as much as four and holding on when Thompson's half-court 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short.

It was the first time in 86 games the Bears lost while holding an opponent under 60 points. Much of that was a result of the physical defense of the Judges, especially Hughes, who spent much of the game covering WashU graduate student guard Sean Wallis, who had 10 points, but also eight turnovers, despite coming into the game averaging just 1.9 turnovers per game.

On Tuesday the men bounced back from a loss last week to New York University and defeated Bates College. The Judges trailed 29-19 with 5:12 left in the first half before going on a 29-4 run that gave them a 15 point lead just under 5 minutes into the second half.

However, the Bobcats never got closer than 11 points after that as the Judges cruised to the win. Kriskus led the team with 19 points off the bench, while Small and Hughes each added 16.

The Judges hope to continue their UAA winning streak when they conference foe the University of Rochester Friday at home.