Led by sharpshooting forward Vytas Kriskus '12, the men's basketball team cruised to three straight double-digit wins to open the season.The Judges defeated Lasell College 73-51 last Tuesday before defeating both Newbury College 89-60 and Curry College 81-69 last weekend to win the Brandeis Judges Classic.

Coach Brian Meehan said that though the team still has room to improve, he's been impressed with the team's offense, especially with so many new faces.

"I think for the most part, we've had periods of time where we stop running the offense and get complacent, but overall, for this time of the year [and] with this many new guys, we've done a good job of executing on the offense," Meehan said. "With this few [experienced] guys I would've expected a little less execution, but we've done a really good job so far."

Kriskus led the team in scoring in all three of their matches, including a career-high 35-point outburst against Curry last Sunday. Kriskus, who was named the tournament's most valuable player for his efforts, exploded for a 22-point second half against the Colonels. On the game he shot 9-20 from the field, 6-11 from the 3-point line and 12-13 from the free-throw line. Kriskus also had eight rebounds, which tied a game high.

"[Kriskus] is scoring, but more importantly, [he] has defended much better than the past two years and he has rebounded," Meehan said. "Scoring is one thing, but when you can stop the other team, that makes him a complete player. It helps us; I don't have to take him out at crucial times of the game because he is a liability. He is not, and that's why he's getting more minutes."

Also contributing for the Judges was Derek Retos '14, who had 11 points off the bench, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc. The rookie point guard has shot a combined 11-for-20 from deep in his first three games for the Judges. Guard Tyrone Hughes '12 chipped in with 8 points, seven assists, five rebounds and just one turnover. The assist total tied a career high for Hughes and was more than the entire Curry team.

"[Hughes] running the offense, keeping them focused has been key," Meehan said.

Against Newbury, Brandeis had four players in double figures, a player with 9 points (Alex Schmidt '14) and another with 8 (Hughes). Kriskus led the way with 19 points, including 5-8 from downtown.

Three rookies also cracked double figures for the Judges. Starting guard Ben Bartoldus '14 scored 14, which included the first 8 points of the game on back to back 3-pointers and a breakaway layup. Anthony Trapasso '14 added 13 points in just 15 minutes of action, while Retos chipped in 12 in just 11 minutes. The three first-years also shot a combined 9-for-13 from 3-point range, as the Judges as a team shot 16-for-28 from beyond the arc. Youri Dascy '14 and Christian Yemga '11 tied for the team lead with five rebounds apiece.

Against Lasell on Tuesday, Brandeis was led by Kriskus and Schmidt, who both recorded double-doubles. Kriskus scored a game-high 22 and grabbed 10 boards for his first career double-double, while Schmidt, in his first collegiate game, had 11 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Retos also cracked double figures for the Judges.

"Playing at Lasell, with the tough atmosphere, I think the freshmen handled the excitement and emotions really well," Meehan said.

Though he was pleased with the team's early success, Meehan noted that the players still have work to do, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

"Defensively, we still need to get better," he said. "There's a lot of things we have to work on, and we haven't really needed to press yet. . What we do know is that it's a talented team. The returning guys have done an excellent job teaching these guys and integrating them to the system."

The men will play again this evening as they host the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at 5:30 p.m. The game will be the fourth in a span of eight days for the Judges, who will not play again until taking on Clark University on Nov. 30.

"We have four games before Thanksgiving, then we [regroup], then another four before winter break." Meehan said, adding that, "If we can get through Tuesday playing well, we'll be a quarter of the way through already."



-Max Goldstein contributed
reporting.