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.

Orlando, Capra Lead Women to Victory At Emmanuel

Center Lauren Orlando ‘09 led the Judges with 27 points in Tuesday night’s 86-62 win over Emmanuel College, the team that knocked the Judges out of last year’s NCAA Tournament in the second round.

“They’re a completely different team than last year, [but] they bring the same philosophy as they did, so we knew we were going to get pressured a lot, we knew that we just had to stay composed, and if we did everything fundamentally correct we’d come out with the win,” co-captain and guard Jamie Capra ‘08 said. “Their philosophy is basically the same–they just pressed you the whole game, and they had subs coming in and out of the game all the time, and fresh legs. We didn’t turn the ball over as much as we did last year, and it was just an all-around great team effort.”

Orlando also contributed defensively, totaling 9 rebounds and 4 blocks.

“[Orlando] had a great game,” Capra said. “She had a tough game against Tufts, but there’s no better way to come back than how she played. It wasn’t even just her scoring– she rebounded really well, and she was blocking shots. She just looked like such a powerhouse. But that’s just an idication of what we can bring to the table if it does come down to it. We have posts who can work the ball inside, and we have guards who can play on the outside.”

Capra, who struggled offensively, particularly from the outside, prior to Tuesday’s win, posted her first double-double of the season, collecting 15 points and 14 rebounds.

“I had a rough couple first games,” Capra said. “My shot still wasn’t falling the way I’d like it to–my outside shot–but I can’t just rely on that. But especially the second half, I focused on finding other ways to help out offensively, and if that was getting offensive rebounds and just planting myself under the basket, I think I was able to do that against Emmanuel. They didn’t necessarily box-out very well.”

Capra added that she said she is struggling with tendinitis in her left foot. She said cites the tendinitis as an ongoing issue throughout her career, but admits that the problem seems to have worsened and has led to additional ankle and leg problems.

Nevertheless, she still stressed the importance of, as a shooter, coming out of a slump when you find yourself in one.

“It’s happened my whole career, so hopefully I can get it out of the way in the beginning and by the end of the year, I’ll be back to normal again,” she said.

The women are now 3-2 with the win. Prior to the season, they were ranked 14th in Division III by D3hoops.com, but have since fallen out of the Top 25 after a 2-2 start.

The Judges are looking to put together their first win-streak when they travel to Babson College on Saturday at 3 p.m.

“Cetainly if we play like we did against Emmanuel, we’ll be very successful,” Capra said. “If we go into Chrsitmas break [with] 3 or 4 more wins, we’ll be in good shape. There’s nothing to panic about yet, it’s still really early in the year.”

Babson, with a 1-3 record (not including their game against Bridgewater State tonight), watched the Judges lose to Tufts University on Sunday.

“After seeing how poorly we played against Tufts, they’re probably pretty [confident] right now that they can pull an upset against us, so we just have to be prepared because they’re going to come out with a chip on their shoulder and really believing that they can beat us,” Capra said.

DeLuca injury update

Men’s basketball forward Steve DeLuca ‘08 continues to be hampered by a right hamstring injury and a lower back injury. After appearing in only 27 minutes of action in the two-game Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 17-18, the first team all-UAA selection has sat out the last three contests.

Despite missing the presence of their leading scorer from last season, the men’s basketball team has started 5-0, including come-from-behind victories over Bridgewater State College Nov. 18 and Tufts University last Sunday. The Judges are also ranked 7th in the country by D3hoops.com, an all-time high for the program.

DeLuca had hoped to be back in the lineup for the Tufts game this past Sunday, but continues to feel sharp pain throughout his hamstring. As a result, DeLuca has been unable to practice.

According to assistant Coach Eric McKoy, DeLuca is progressing with his treatment. While there is no clear timetable for DeLuca’s return, McKoy hopes DeLuca can participate in the Dec. 4th contest at Clark University. In this scenario, DeLuca would be able to get back to game-speed against Clark, rest against UMass Dartmouth (Dec. 6th) and be ready to participate in the Dec. 8th home game vs. Amherst College, the number one team in the nation.

DeLuca originally injured his plantar fasciitis, the band of tissue that extends from the heel to the toe on the bottom of the foot, after the team returned from its summer trip to Italy.

Coach Brian Meehan said DeLuca had a difficult time adjusting to orthotics placed in his shoes, which caused his current ailments.

Welcome back

As a reminder, we don’t have an issue this week, thanks to the Thanksgiving break. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, even though the football games were incredibly boring.

But while it was a good Thanksgiving weekend for most, it wasn’t for the women’s basketball team. They lost their second game of the young season, shooting just 21 percent from the field in a 57-43 loss at Tufts last Sunday. Jaime Capra ‘08 continues to struggle, as she shot 3-12 from the field in scoring just 10 points. For the season, she’s shooting only 30.8 percent from the field and 57 percent from the line.

It was almost a bad weekend for the men’s team as well, but a late rally propelled them to an 89-87 win at Tufts last Sunday. Kwame Graves-Fulgham ‘08 led the way with 23 points, and Terrell Hollins ‘10 and Andre Roberson ‘10 added 21 and 17, respectively for the Judges, who continue to play without Steve DeLuca ‘08. Jeff reported last week that DeLuca was struggling with hamstring and back injuries that resulted from his recovery from a plantar fascitis injury suffered last summer, but DeLuca had told us before the Thanksgiving break that he hoped to play in the Tufts game. We’ll update accordingly.

Speaking of injuries, there was a critical one around the UAA this weekend. Sean Wallis, the star junior point guard for Wash U. and the brand new blogger for D3hoops.com, is likely out for the rest of the season with a devastating knee injury. Here’s what he had to say in the Daily Dose at D3hoops.com:

First things first: As a lot people already know and have been speculating, I got injured in our game last Tuesday at Maryville. I currently have a displaced tibial plateau fracture and a partially torn MCL. Winning by 20 points midway through the first half, I drove down the lane and Cam’s [Smith] man stepped over to help onto me. His defender accidentally stepped on my right foot then the rest of his leg crashed into my leg. Since he was on my foot—my leg had no way to give at the contact so it kind of just snapped and I heard a crack.

Without Wallis, the Bears, who began the season as the top-ranked team in the D3hoops.com poll, lost their second game of the year, falling 66-60 to No. 5 Augustana last Saturday. Obviously, Wallis’ injury is terrible news, and I hope he gets better, but that significantly weakens one of Brandeis’ top competitors in the UAA this season. The Judges need to first get their star back, but the good news is that, even with star center Troy Ruths, fantastic swingman Tyler Nading, and forward Aaron Thompson, the Bears look a lot less imposing.