After suffering a 37-31 defeat to the faculty/staff team in the first annual Hoops for Haiti basketball fundraiser last year, the student team got its revenge this year by going on a 13-6 run in the final 8 minutes of yesterday's game to win 49-42."This year, we made sure we were going to win," Student Union President Daniel Acheampong '11 said. "We had a great team. We always have a good team, so we wanted to step it up a little bit and show the staff we are not playing [around]. We come ready and we are ready to win."

Despite losing to the student team, which had members from both the men's and women's basketball teams, Director of Class-Based Academic Advising and Coordinator of First Year Academic Programming PJ Dickson believes that the game was rigged this year after the faculty/staff team won last year's game.

"There [was] a conspiracy, I think, this year to make sure the staff and faculty team could not win," Dickson said. "We faced an exceedingly large number of large and talented players. But I think all in all, we handled ourselves very well and played with an appropriate amount of good sportsmanship and hard work."

Although there was a winner and a loser in the game, everyone involved thought the event was a tremendous success.

"It was an amazing event," Brandeis Haiti Initiative Co-President Napoleon Lherisson '11, who played for the student team, said. "It was a great turnout. . Overall, it was a great experience to see faculty members, students and staff all come together to play a great game of basketball."

"We raised a lot of good money for Haiti, and last year, they raised a lot of money also," starting center for the student team Rachel Nelson '13 said. "Hopefully, this is something we can continue to do every year."

"It was an incredible event," Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams said. "I'm glad it's become an annual event. . Any event that the students put together that is [for] a good cause and in the name of social justice, civility and treating people like humans is always a great thing. We do that well here at Brandeis."

After Brandeis VoiceMale sang the national anthem and Senior Postal Clerk Bill Bowen gave his rendition of "God Bless America," the faculty/staff team jumped out to a 14-7 lead with 10 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the first half. A few moments later, Adams, sporting No. 125 with "Human Torch" on the back of his jersey, stepped onto the court for the first time. After he dribbled the ball up the court, Adams suffered what at first seemed to be a devastating knee injury.

In the process, women's basketball coach Carol Simon, who was watching the game from the stands with the rest of the crowd, replaced Adams, who was helped off the court by faculty/staff coach and Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Andrew Gully.

Adams did his best impression of Paul Pierce in the 2008 NBA Finals, and just minutes after being carried off the court he was back in the action. Still, he believes that the injury will need to be looked at by doctors.

"The knee is going to take a whole lot of [physical therapy]," he said. "I'll be in PT, the doctors say, for about 2 months. It'll go smooth because we have some of the best doctors in the world. Remember, our doctors made ButterSmart [sic], so we'll easily fix my knee."

Whenever the student team shot free throws, Adams went behind the basket to distract them. His antics, which included throwing his hands and legs in the air, worked satisfactorily, according to Adams.

"It worked two-thirds of the time," Adams said, "That one-third, by that point, they got used to me. I need to develop a strategy. Next year, what I may do is try and get some indoor fireworks that are non-fire but still are still fireworks."

Despite trailing for much of the first half, the student team cut the faculty/staff lead to 3 points at halftime. Men's basketball forward Vytas Kriskus '12 scored the first 5 points for the students to give them the lead, which they held until the faculty/staff team tied the game at 36 with just under 8 minutes left in the game. From there, the student team pulled ahead despite aggressive play from their opponents in the final minutes of the game.

Hoops for Haiti was created last year by the Brandeis Haiti Initiative to raise money for Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake on January 12, 2010. The proceeds from the event this year, which came from selling tickets for $5 apiece, will go to the Education Through Education Camp, a free summer day camp for children in Haiti founded by Shaina Gilbert '10; Partners in Health; Hope for Haiti; and the Japan Relief Effort. According to Lherisson, BHI will also hold A Night for Haiti on May 9, where a silent auction will be held to raise money for Haiti.