The Brandeis Judges helped Coach Brian Meehan record his 200th career victory this past Tuesday by defeating Babson College, 76-66 at Babson. The non-conference win helped the Judges advance to 5-0 while the Babson Beavers fell to 2-3.
Brandeis led the Beavers by six with only eleven minutes remaining when Babson went on an 8-0 run to take the two point lead. Six of the eight points came form Greg Bush, 08. The Judges responded to the Beaver run with a spurt of their own. Brandeis outscored Babson 15-4 over the next four minutes to take a 68-55 lead that they would not relinquish. Babson was able to cut the lead to seven twice in the final two minutes, but the Judges proved to be too much, winning 76-66.
Guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham 08 led Brandeis with 14 points on 5 of 6 from the field. Five of his fourteen points came in the decisive 15-4 run. Steve DeLuca 08 and Kenny Small 10 each added ten points for the Judges. As a team, Brandeis shot 54.9 percent from the field making twenty eight out of fifty one shots.
For Meehan, his 200th victory came in his fourth season at Brandeis and his eleventh season overall. He now holds a career record of 200-79, with a winning percentage of .717, 17th among active Division III coaches and 18th all-time.
Babson was led by Bush who finished with a game high 18 points on 6 of 11 from the field and 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. Brian MacDonald added twelve points on 6 of 9 shooting while Zach Etten chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds. Babson also shot well from the field, hitting twenty six of fifty one shots, but managed to sink only four of sixteen from long range.
In other action this week Brandeis was able to overcome an eleven point second half deficit to Tufts University, who is ranked 12th overall in Division III.
The Judges entered the second half trailing by nine points, 45-36, after Tufts had closed the first half on a 14-5 run. Tufts guard Ryan OKeefe opened the second half with a lay up, giving the Jumbos their biggest lead of the game. From there, Brandeis went on a 19-7 run over the next eight minutes. Brandeis was able to reclaim the lead at the 11:32 mark on a lay up by Terrell Hollins 10. Joe Coppens 08 hit his third three pointer of the half breaking a 69-69 tie and giving the Judges a lead that they would not lose.
Brandeis ended the game with three players having scored over twenty points and a total of five reaching double digits. DeLuca and Hollins led the way with twenty one apiece. Coppens finished with eighteen points despite scoring only two in the first half. Florian Rexhepi 08, chipped in with fifteen points on 9 of 12 from the field and Graves-Fulgham added ten points as well as six assists, tying DeLuca for the team high. The Judges shot 57.9 percent from the floor including an outstanding 69.2 percent in the second half.
