Box Score
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Tarik Smith finished with 15 points and three assists for Tufts
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Recap courtesy of WPI
WORCESTER --- Four different WPI players reached double digits in scoring as the Engineers held off a furious Tufts rally to defeat the visiting Jumbos 70-67 in a non-conference men's basketball game on Tuesday evening.
The win is the 20th straight in Harrington Auditorium for WPI (5-1), who is ranked 14th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. Tufts, who is receiving votes in the poll, is now 5-2 on the season.
WPI, who led by as many as 18 at 58-40 with less than nine minutes left, saw the visitors hold them to just one field goal the rest of the way. A Kwame Firempong (Los Angeles, CA) three-pointer with 9.2 seconds left sliced the deficit to just two. Matt Harrington (Shrewsbury, MA) hit one of two free throws to give the Jumbos a chance to tie, but Firempong's game-tying three-point bid at the buzzer was blocked by Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA).
Tufts used an 11-0 spurt midway through the first half to turn a 14-10 deficit into a 21-14 advantage. The Engineers quickly countered with straight points of their own to key a run that helped them take a 32-26 advantage at the break.
WPI scored the opening seven points of the second stanza and only saw its lead trimmed to single digits once before the Jumbos late run at the end.
Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT) and Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) both scored 13 points for the Engineers while Mastascusa added 12 off the bench and point guard Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) chipped in with 11. Longwell handed out a season-best five assists while Chad LeBove (Shrewsbury, MA) provided a spark to the starting lineup with a game-high tying eight boards to go along with five points.
Ryan Spadaford (Rockville Centre, NY) and Tarik Smith (Bronx, NY) fueled Tufts with 19 and 15 points, respectively, off the bench. The duos' effort spearheaded a 40-26 scoring edge for the Tufts reserves. Firempong contributed 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Spadaford and Drew Madsen (San Diego, CA) joined LaBove with eight rebounds.
WPI plays the third contest of a four-game home stand on Thursday, entertaining Newbury at 7 pm. Tufts hosts the New England Big 4 Challenge this weekend. The Jumbos open play against Salem State at 5 pm on Saturday.
Tufts was playing without Ben Ferris and Stephen Haladyna, the top two returning scorers from last year.
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