Over the past week, Terrell Hollins ’10 and classmate Kenny Small have shown that the best of their team’s season is yet to come.
After the senior class scored their 80th victory last Saturday, beating UAA rival NYU 69-62, they earned a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament on Monday.
The Judges, who finished their regular season with a 19-6 record, will compete against St. Lawrence (16-11) in Rochester, NY at 6 p.m. this evening.
On Wednesday, Hollins and Small were named 2010 Men’s Basketball All-UAA First team selections. Tyrone Hughes ’12 and Andre Roberson ’10 were also named All-UAA honorable mentions.
Hollins averaged 13.6 points per game in the regular season and was ranked 33rd in the country for rebounds in Division III play with 9.9 per game, according to the Brandeis Web site. He is also only the third player in Brandeis history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists.
“He [Hollins] is one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen in traffic,” head coach Brian Meehan said in an interview with The Hoot. “He has a knack for just coming out of the crowd with the ball, and that’s something you can’t teach.”
Assistant Coach Eric McKoy explained that all of the seniors have made great contributions to the team and the university over the past four years. “They did different parts to make themselves better and make the team better,” McKoy said.
“They’re guys that are going to be missed not only here on the basketball court but also in the community of Brandeis,” McKoy said.
Speaking about Roberson, Meehan called him a “pure point guard,” and said that “he’s just a smart, smart player who always tends to make the big play.”
Both McKoy and Meehan said that they are ready for a tough weekend of competition in Rochester. If the Judges win against St. Lawrence tonight, they will face the winner of St. John Fisher and Brooklyn on Saturday at 7 p.m. Both St. John Fisher and Brooklyn have posted 22 wins in the regular season.
“It’s going to be a tough weekend. [We’ve] just got to play a complete game for 40 minutes. [We] can’t have lapses in the tournament,” McKoy said.
Vytas Kriskus ’12 said that he thinks it is crucial that his team “can start out really strong and keep that intensity for the rest of the game.”
The Judges will look to build on their strong second-half run against NYU last weekend where Meehan said that, “NYU did a really good job of controlling the tempo.” He said he was very pleased with his team’s ability to adjust at halftime, and be more patient on defense in order to deal with the fast pace.
“That’s a sign of a good team that can adjust at the half,” Meehan said. He added that although St. Lawrence is a team that plays aggressively on offense, the Judges will be ready to play strong defense.
“We try to spend the whole season getting better at the way we play,” Meehan said.
The Judges play tonight at St. John Fisher College on Bobby Wanzer Court at 6 p.m.
“We’d like to get closer to home, so all the fans can come out and see us [play],” Meehan said.
