With nine seconds left, Carnegie Mellon University sophomore forward Christian Manoli stood at the line, waiting for his second free throw. The Judges went for the foul, down 76-75 in overtime in Pittsburgh last Sunday.

Manoli missed both free throws, and forward Alex Stoyle '14 then grabbed his third rebound of the game. Point guard Tyrone Hughes '12 found himself with the ball in his hands, drove it into the lane and hit a bank shot at the buzzer to give the Judges their fourth overtime win of the season, 77-76.

The win propels Brandeis to 12-8 overall and 6-3 in the University Athletic Association.

Brandeis dominated the first half, leading by as many as 13 points, and ended the half with a 36-27 lead. The Judges shot 65 percent from the floor and hit five of eight from downtown, holding the Spartans to just 34 percent shooting and three of ten from three-point range.

The second half, however, proved to be a different story. Carnegie Mellon opened the half with a 15-5 run to take a 42-41 lead with 12 minutes, 47 seconds left, which was the team's first lead of the game. The Tartans expanded their lead to six, ahead 64-58 with 2:48 left in regulation.

"We came out of the half kind of slow and allowed them back into the game," said Stoyle. "Late in the half, we picked it up and luckily managed to hold on in overtime."

Trailing by six points and facing defeat, the Judges staged an inspiring run.

Guard Jay Freeman '13 made the first of two free throws and then nabbed his own miss, putting it back to cut the lead to three. After Carnegie hit a free throw, forward Vytas Kriskus '12 nailed a pair of jumpers, one on a three-point play, which put Brandeis up 66-65.

With 18 seconds to play, Brandeis fouled Carnegie, but the Tartans refused defeat, forcing overtime with a clutch free throw.

Despite losing Kriskus and center Youri Dascy '14 to five fouls each, the Judges were able to hang tough in overtime.

The extra period featured two ties and two lead changes. Carnegie shot 5-10 from the free-throw line in the period, a big factor in the Tartans' loss.

Down 76-73 after a pair of Carnegie free throws, Freeman drove down the lane for a layup, cutting the lead to one with just 37 seconds left. Brandeis fouled, while the two misses set up Hughes' game-winning heroics.

"In overtime, the game was back and forth, but Ty hit a great shot to seal the deal at the buzzer," said Stoyle.

Kriskus led the team in scoring with 16 points, shooting 5-9 from the field, 1-3 from deep and 5-5 from the charity stripe. He also contributed eight rebounds, two blocks and four turnovers in just 30 minutes of play.

Freeman was second on the squad in scoring, putting up 12 points off the bench. Guard Derek Retos '14 and Hughes each scored 11 for the Judges.

Last Friday, Brandeis looked like a different team, losing to the last-place Case Western Reserve Spartans by 91-68.

The win ended an eight-game losing streak for the Spartans and also marked their first UAA victory of the season.

The first half of the game proved to be an even affair, with Brandeis down 36-35. The last three games between these two teams had been decided by a total of 12 points, but last Friday, this was not the case. In the second half, the Brandeis defense faltered, allowing Case to score a season high in points.

Case scored on each of its first seven possessions, while Brandeis failed to score on its first five. The Judges found themselves down 51-43 after a Dascy layup with 13:40 to go, but Case went on a 10-0 run to pull away for the win.

The Spartans shot 70 percent in the second half, missing just nine out of 30 attempts, while shooting 57.1 percent overall for the game.

Brandeis shot just 36.2 percent and connected on only four of 14 shots from beyond the arc.

"We just came out with no energy and everything fell apart," said Stoyle, referring to the second half.

"It's as simple as that; we stopped playing with any kind of intensity or sense of urgency."

Kriskus led the Judges with 16 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Dascy scored 13 points and recorded seven rebounds, while Freeman put up 13 points off the bench in just 18 minutes.

The Judges continue their UAA road trip against the University of Rochester this Friday at 8 p.m.

They then travel to face Emory University for another conference matchup on Sunday afternoon.