The Justice

Media Credit: Asher Krell The men's basketball team comes together in its Nov. 29 game against Vassar College. Brandeis won 79-52.

After a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Brandeis men's basketball team will hope to improve on that performance this season, as it was granted a Pool C berth into the tournament for the fourth straight season. The team will travel to St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y. to play St. Lawrence University Friday night. The winner of that game will then play the winner of the St. John Fisher-Brooklyn College game Saturday.

Last season the Judges lost to host Franklin and Marshall College 65-63, nearly pulling off a miracle comeback in a game in which they once trailed 57-37.

Despite the loss, coach Brian Meehan reiterated that the team cannot think back to last year's loss.

"Last year was last year," Meehan said. "It was a whole different team. Every year in the tourment is like starting over. ... It's all about preparation for the Tournament."

Pool C berths are given to schools from conferences with automatic qualifiers who do not earn the automatic bid. Two-time defending national champion Washington University in St. Louis won the University Athletic Association automatic berth to the tournament by finishing the year with the best UAA record at 13-1. Brandeis finished second in the conference at 9-5, the only other team from the UAA with a conference record above .500.

Entry to the tournament is based primarily on statistics within a team's region, which in Brandeis' case is the Northeast. The Judges finished the year fifth in the region, ahead of three other tournament teams.

The primary criteria for selection include, among other factors, in-region strength of schedule, where the Judges ranked seventh in the Northeast. It also includes in-region results versus regionally ranked teams, and the Judges had a solid .500 record in this category. Secondary factors include overall strength of schedule, which for Brandeis was the 60th toughest in the nation out of over 400 Division III schools.

With this résumé, Meehan was confident his team would make the tournament, telling the Justice, "We're definitely in" after the team's victory Saturday over New York University, before the brackets were announced.

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