A wild opening week for the men's basketball team ended in the hands of guard Derek Retos '14. Retos, who had already scored 26 points, drove down the lane in transition and converted a layup with 16.8 seconds against Becker College in overtime to put the Judges up 77-76. The Judges were then called to action on defense, and as the game clock ticked down to zero, Brandeis won a dramatic overtime match at Red Auerbach Arena.

Brandeis led the game comfortably for most of the first half, leading the Hawks at the half by a score of 42-31. Retos and center Youri Dascy '14 led the team with 14 points apiece. The Judges added to their lead, jumping ahead 49-34 just three minutes into the second half. Becker then launched a impressive 18-1 rally over the next eight minutes to fight its way back into the game. The Hawks capped it off with a put back from junior guard Moody Doherty at 8:57 to put them ahead 52-50. Brandeis, however, answered with a 7-1 run, going up 66-61 with 2:32 to go. The Hawks turned up the defense, allowing just one Brandeis point the rest of the way. Down 66-65, senior forward Terrance Favors grabbed the rebound then drove down the length of the court and nailed the lay up to tie the game at 67-67 with 1:22 to go. Neither team could score to keep the game from overtime.

Retos immediately drained a three-point shot to start the overtime. The Hawks answered by scoring five straight and eventually took a 76-73 lead with just 37 seconds left. Forward Connor Arnold '14 scored his first bucket of the game on a nice pass from guard Ben Bartoldus '14, driving it home to cut Becker's lead to 76-75. Sophomore guard Chris Canady, after failing to convert on either of his free throws, grabbed his own rebound but lost the ball to Hughes, who broke down the court on a two-on-one with Retos. Retos then banked the layup with 17 seconds to go for the win.

Guard Tyrone Hughes '12 was impressed with how the play unfolded amid all of the chaos.

"That play [the game winner] was crazy; there was a lot of commotion," said Hughes. "I just saw the ball, was able to grab it, and I was going to go to the lane myself, but I saw Derek ahead, so I fed it to him."

Retos added that he was still surprised about the game-winning shot.

"I was just really at the right place at the right time," said Retos. "Tyrone made a great play to come up with the loose ball, and I just happened to be under the basket when he did."

Dascy finished the game with 16 points and 15 rebounds, his first double-double of the season.Bartoldus and Hughes each had 10 points, while Hughes added nine assists.

On Thursday against Emerson College, the Judges had a much easier time offensively and cruised to a 78-50 victory. Retos was again impressive, netting 17 points. Brandeis never trailed, shooting a healthy 58.7 percent from the field while holding Emerson to 35.2 percent. The Judges took a 31-22 to the break before coming out of the second half on fire with a 20-4 run over the first 5:28 of play. The Judges had a 51-26 lead and never looked back. Bartoldus added 10 points, while Hughes, center Vytas Kriskus '12 and Jay Freeman '13 each had nine points.

Hughes was impressed with the team's ability to rebound offensively after a disappointing first game.

"I was impressed with the team during the Becker game, said Retos." "We decided we would win together or lose together."

The Judges were rusty in their first game of the season against Lasell College, falling by a score of 91-82. Brandeis shot just seven of 35 from the field for a poor 20 percent. Adding to Brandeis' misery, Lasell came out hot, shooting 15 of 29 in the opening half. Lasell stretched their lead to 52-26 to start the second half. Brandeis responded by storming back with a 19-8 run. Lasell, however, replied with a 9-4 run to bring the lead back to up to 20 points with 11:25 to go. Hughes made back-to-back layups to bring the Judges to within 11. Lasell, however, answered with consecutive scores of its own to halt the comeback.

Hughes noted, that despite winning its last two games, the team still needs to limit its turnovers and improve upon its overall defensive effort.

"From last week, we have to improve our shot selection," said Hughes. "We can't fall in love with threes. We have to work on communicating on defense, and we have to not turn the ball over. We turned it over 23 times against Becker. That's enough for three games. We have to improve on that."

"The season only gets tougher," said Hughes. "Every possession counts. We won two games but we have a long road ahead of us."

Retos added defense would be the key to the team's success this season.

"We need to get better in all facets of the game," said Retos. "But most importantly we need to improve defensively. If we can do so we have a chance to be very successful."

The Judges are next in action tonight at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.