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Last year, the Brandeis men’s basketball team finished with a 22-7 record (9-5 in conference play). From there, the Judges advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament for the second time in four seasons.

If the Judges are to achieve a similar level of success, they will need to do so without five key pieces from last year’s senior class. With 83 career victories, four NCAA tournament appearances, and two trips to the Elite Eight, the Class of 2010—Terrell Hollins, Andre Roberson, Kenny Small, John Weldon and Rich Magee—entered the record books as the winningest class in Brandeis basketball history.

Hollins was a two-time University Athletic Association First Teamer and three-season starter at forward, selected to D3hoops.com’s All-Northeast Second Team last season. He finished his career as Brandeis’ 18th all-time leading scorer, sixth all-time in career rebounds, 13th in steals and 14th in assists.

Small started each of the team’s 29 games in the 2009-2010 campaign. Like Hollins, he was named first team All-UAA last year and is one of only eight Brandeis men to down 100 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

Roberson also started every game last season and Weldon, in his second year back from injury, proved a valuable presence off the bench. Until his career was cut short by a leg injury, fellow senior Rich Magee was the team’s starting center.

The Judges will look to returning players Christian Yemga ’11, Wouter van der Eng ’13, Vytas Kriskus ’12 and Tyrone Hughes ’12, last year’s only remaining starter and an All-UAA honorable mention, to lead the charge for Head Coach Brian Meehan, now in his eighth season behind the bench.

A total of 12 newcomers —a number greater than last year’s entire roster of 11—join the Judges this season, which formally tips off on November 16 at Lasell College. Schedule highlights include the Brandeis Invitational, to be held the weekend of November 19 as well as the team’s first UAA contest, a January 8 matchup against New York University.

In Brandeis’ only preseason tune-up, the Judges fell 83-60 to UMass Amherst on Thursday. Kriskus posted a team-high 16 points while Hughes led the Judges with six rebounds and four assists. Hughes and rookie Youri Dascy ’14 were Brandeis’ other double-digit scorers. Both collected 11 points.