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Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.

See you next season

Published: March 3, 2006
Section: Sports


The Men's Basketball team closed out an up and down year by crushing conference rival NYU 70-46. Rocco Toppi 08, Joe Coppens 09 and Kevin Olson 09 each had 11 points, with Coppens and Olsen nailing three 3-pointers each. The Judges were deadly with their shots, nailing 53% for the game including going 10 of 20 from beyond the arc. Brandeis also got strong production from its backcourt tandem of Florian Rexhepi 08 and Kwame Graves-Fulgham 08, with each contributing 9 points and Rexhepi having a game-high 8 assists.

NYU was led by forward Michael DeCorso 07, who had a game high 19 points thanks to 4 for 8 shooting from the three-point line. Jared Kildare 06 was the only other Violet to reach double digits with 10 points and 3 assists. It was a rough game for NYU, with Brandeis dominating the bench scoring 28-6 and forcing 6 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. To compound their woes, NYU was atrocious from the foul line, going 4-12 for the game, with three of those points coming in the second half.
Its was a good way to end the season, because Brandeis was denied a spot in the ECAC tournament. This snub comes in spite of their overall winning record (14-11) and a finish in a three-way tie for third with NYU and Rochester. For a young team though, they ended on a high note.

Brandeis forward Steve Delucca 08 was rewarded for his breakout year by being named a member of the All-UAA first team. Delucca, an honorable mention recipient last year, exploded this year, averaging 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Earning second team honors was guard Florian Rexhepi 08, last years rookie of the year, finished with 11.4 points and 3.7 assists per game. Backcourt mate Kwame Graves-Fulgham received an honorable mention for a season where he finished fourth in the league in assists with 4.4 per game.