Crowd up to the challenge

Melissa Siegel was stationed in the heart of “The Jury” as an embedded correspondent. The following is her report.

In the first half, the fans appeared in full force, filling the gym with loud cheers and chants. I spoke with a couple of the rowdiest fans at halftime, and they all seemed optimistic with the Judges holding a 31-29 lead.

One of these fans was David Mael ‘09, who has seen the action from both sides, as he was a member of the varsity team during his first two seasons in college.

“It’s all about having fun,” he said. “We’re all having a great time out here.”

Another excited fan, Akil Gupta ‘10, was impressed by the spirit shown by the fans.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “The school’s spirit has gone up tremendously. We’re going to go crazy [in the second half].”

Gupta predicted a 70-65 Judges win. He was only five points off the mark.

As the start of the second half approaches, the fans form a circle around the court entrance. As the referees re-enter, the fans give them high-fives in hopes of swinging a couple critical calls in the Judges’ favor. Head coach Brian Meehan is mobbed and hugged by the fans as he joins his players on the court, and he seems to be enjoying the positive attention.

Throughout the second half, the loud fans continued their “Bull****” and “Amherst sucks” chants from earlier. They also attempted to faze Amherst’s senior all-American point guard Andrew Olson, chanting “OLSON!” repeatedly whenever he touched the ball. The strategy worked to some extent, as the Judges held him to just nine points and five assists.

Another common chant was a play on Amherst’s team nickname, the Lord Jeffs. Instead, Brandeis fans chanted “Gaylord Jeffs,” likely to portray their opponent as weak.

An 11-0 Amherst run quieted the fans momentarily, but they were soon back on their feet after rookie forward Christian Yemga ‘11 hit a three-pointer off the glass with the shot clock winding down. The shot gave momentum back to the home team and sparked a large cheer from the crowd.

As the clock ticked down with the Judges sporting a comfortable 10-point lead, I could feel the excitement in the air. When the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the game, several of the Judges’ rowdiest fans stormed the court and circled the players. With the biggest regular-season win in school history now complete, this will likely be a moment these fans will never forget.

Judges win 72-62

All you need to know about this game is here.  My computer ran out of batteries, which is why blogging stopped after the first half.

Check out the game story by clicking that link.

Haltime: 31-29 Judges

Trailing 29-28 on the last possession of the half, guard Kevin Olson ‘09 found guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham ‘08 cutting backdoor.  Graves-Fulgham reversed to the left side, attempted an underhand left-handed scoop shot, and it slowly rattled home as the whistle designed a foul on Amherst.  Graves-Fulgham hit the free throw, to the delight of the Brandeis crowd.

Olson has eight points, including two threes, to lead the Judges, while forward Stephen Hill ‘08 has seven.  The Judges have also held Amherst all-American Andrew Olson in check, as he has zero points and one assist in 20 minutes.

Amherst’s shooting is keeping them in the game, as they’re hitting 46 percent of their shots, compared to 38 percent for Brandeis.

Joe Coppens’ ‘08 back appears to be a non-issue, as he’s playing 19 of the 20 minutes in the half.

Second half to come shortly.  The Brandeis fans have already formed a wall around the entrance to the court, and I imagine there will be thunderous applause when the Judges come out of the locker room.

16-13 Judges at first timeout

With 11:59 to go in the first half, Brandeis leads 16-13.

Kevin Olson ‘09 has  five points, including a three and a tough floater in the lane.  He’s starting instead of guard Florian Rexhepi ‘08.

Amherst senior Andrew Olson has no points, and is being hounded by both Kwame Graves-Fulgham ‘08 and Andre Roberson ‘10.  Center Kevin Hopkins is leading the way for the Lord Jeffs.

Already, we’ve heard the crowd chant “Bull****” on bad calls, and one one possession, they screamed “Amherst sucks.”

Setting the scene

It’s two minutes before gametime, and this place is packed. The nearside bleachers are nearly full, and they’ve even opened up bleachers on the far side, where the two benches are located.

Coach Brian Meehan is more dressed up than usual, sporting a jacket and tie. Forward Steve DeLuca ‘08 is joking around on the bench, and as the Judges were announced, he was seen clapping loudly with the fans. The crowd is chanting “overrated” to the Amherst players as they warm up on the left side.

I spoke with Alan Karon, otherwise known as “Superfan Alan” just now. He says forward Terrell Hollins ‘10 is the key tonight, and he’s not concerned about the Judges 71-64 overtime loss to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Thursday.

He also said guard Joe Coppens ‘08 is struggling with a back injury, but he will start today.

The lineups are being announced, and the crowd is waving their towels. It’s gametime.

That other game

Bet you didn’t know there was another game at Red Auerbach Arena today.

The women’s basketball team is in action against Williams College, a well-known team from the Northeast Small College Athletic Conference, and they are rolling, with a 45-24 lead at halftime.

Jaime Capra ‘08 has 13 points to lead the way, and it seems like she’s breaking out of her slump from earlier in the season.

This game is big

Need more evidence about the gravity of this Brandeis-Amherst game?

• The Facebook event has over 220 people attending, and that’s just those who RSVPed on Facebook.
• WBRS is giving away rally towels to the first 500 fans.
• The WBRS Sports Blog, which traditionally is only about professional sports, has its own preview up.
• This game has its own thread on the D3hoops message board.

Needless to say, this game is very important.

Let’s talk about Amherst…

…but first, here are this week’s stories.

• INJURY: DeLuca ruled out of action, by Jeffrey Pickette. Obviously, this is really bad news for the Judges, who now have to face top-ranked Amherst College without their star player.
• MBBALL: Team rallied again in second half to nip Framingham State, by Jeffrey Pickette.
• WBBALL: Judges stop the bleeding with two victories this week, by Julie Ganz.
• WBBALL NOTEBOOK: Teammates are making up for slumping Capra, by Julie Ganz. The good news for the Judges is that the slumping Jaime Capra broke out for 24 points on 10-18 shooting in yesterday’s 59-46 win over Wheaton College, which moved the Judges to 6-2 following Tuesday’s win over WPI.
• FENCING: Men’s squad excels against Ivy League opponents, by Melissa Siegel.
• INDOOR TRACK: Judges start winter season with strong finishes, by Mike Prada.
• SWIMMING: Men’s team is third, women’s is sixth at MIT, by Ian Cutler.
• ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Jessica Chapin ‘10, by Mike Prada.

Now, let’s get caught up on the big game. As we all probably know, the men’s basketball team surged to the No. 3 spot in the D3hoops.com Top 25, behind only Amherst and the University of Rochester. It’s the highest the Judges have ever been in the poll, and it happened on the very week in which they play the No. 1 Lord Jeffs.

Both teams have struggled in the games leading up to tomorrow’s tilt. The Judges breezed by Clark University 82-71 Tuesday, but dropped their first game of the season yesterday, falling 71-64 in overtime to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. It’s not an awful loss, as Umass-Dartmouth is 6-0 on the season, but it was still disappointing. The Judges shot 43.8 percent compared to just 36.8 percent for Umass-Dartmouth, but Brandeis had just one three-pointer, while Umass-Dartmouth had 11.

Brandeis trailed most of the game, but point guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham ‘08 tied the game at 58 with a layup with 23 seconds remaining. The game went into overtime, and with Umass-Dartmouth clinging to a three-point lead with just under a minute left, forward Stephen Hill ‘08 missed two layups, and Umass-Dartmouth converted enough free throws to get the win.

Amherst also struggled Thursday, as they trailed by eight points before finally putting away the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 66-60. Star senior point guard Andrew Olson, the Most Valuable Player at last year’s NCAA Final Four, is struggling with an ankle injury, according to D3hoops.com’s Around the Nation, but did play yesterday, so he should play tomorrow.

If you ask me, the key to tomorrow’s game will be which team can exploit the other’s weakness. With Graves-Fulgham and reserve guard Andre Roberson ‘10, the Judges should be able to attack the hobbled Olson effectively, but the Lord Jeffs have several key inside players that should cause Brandeis fits inside, especially without DeLuca. The Judges will also need to shoot the three better if they are to win tomorrow.

Either way, it’s a huge event for the program, and we’ll be there tomorrow covering it all. Stay tuned.