Box Score
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| Tarik Smith's 18 points helped the Jumbos knock off Amherst Friday night |
AMHERST – Sophomore Tarik Smith scored 18 points and classmate Hunter Sabety added 14 points and four blocks as the Tufts men's basketball team upset #25 Amherst, 80-53, at LeFrak Gymnasium in NESCAC action Friday night. The win is the second in a row for the Jumbos, who opened up their NESCAC bill with a win against Middlebury last weekend.
The Jumbos (6-7, 2-0 NESCAC) have now won three of their last four since taking a break for the holidays, with the only set-back being a two-point loss to Rhode Island College last week. The Anchormen were receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll.
Amherst (10-4, 2-2), who was ranked #25 in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll, opened their NESCAC schedule last weekend with a win over Hamilton and a one-point loss to Williams. The Lord Jeffs beat Wesleyan on Tuesday before suffering the loss to the Jumbos.
The Jumbos took the lead early in the first half and never looked back. With the game tied at five just three minutes into play, the Jumbos scored fifteen points, answered only by one Amherst three pointer, to take a 20-8 lead halfway through the first half.
A jump shot from Amherst rookie Michael Riopel and eight points by sophomore Jeff Racy brought the Lord Jeffs within four with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. After two points from junior Stephen Haladyna and two made free throws from the Lord Jeff's Johnny McCarthy, the Jumbos used back-to-back threes from freshman Thomas Lapham, two made free throws from Haladyna and two threes from Smith to take a 38-24 advantage into halftime.
Tufts didn't cool down in the second half, and seven minutes into the second frame the Jumbos had built their lead to 20, leading the Lord Jeffs 52-32 with just over 13 minutes left in the game. The hosts weren't able to gain much momentum during the second half, and could not manage to cut the Jumbos lead, with the visitors finishing off the 80-53 victory.
In addition to his 18 points off the bench, Smith finished with two rebounds and two steals for the Jumbos. Sophomore Tom Palleschi finished with 10 points and four rebounds, while junior Ryan Spadaford turned in six points and was the rebound leader with eight. Lapham made three of his four attempted threes to finish with nine points on the night.
Racy scored 18 points and seven rebounds for the Lord Jeffs off the bench, while junior Connor Green added 11 points. The Lord Jeffs shot 32.1% from the floor and suffered 14 turnovers in the setback.
Amherst will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they take on Bates at 3:00 pm, and will then have a chance to avenge their loss to Williams with a Wednesday, January 21 meeting with the Ephs.
The Jumbos look to keep up their winning ways on Saturday with a 3:00 pm tip-off at Trinity before returning home to host UMass-Boston on Thursday, January 22 at 7:00 pm.
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