Box Score MEDFORD - The Tufts Men's Basketball team built a 24-point halftime lead and rolled to an 86-62 victory over Wentworth in the Jumbos' home opener at Cousens Gym Saturday afternoon.
Four scored in double-digits for the hosts led by 16 points from senior tri-captain Stephen Haladyna. Sophomore Vincent Pace added 15. The pair was a combined 11 for 19 on field goals. The Jumbos (2-0) completed their opening weekend with a 2-0 record including last night's win at Emerson.
Sophomore Jason Ganley scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Leopards, who dropped to 1-3 overall. Senior Kyle Romich finished with 11 points for the visitors.
Tufts never trailed in the game and took charge immediately. Five minutes in they were up 16-4 on a three-pointer by Pace. The Jumbos had four three-pointers during the opening run including another by Pace, one by Haladyna and one from senior tri-captain Ryan Spadaford.
The Tufts lead would dip into single digits only once the rest of the way. A Romich jumper at 11:52 of the first half made it an 18-10 game. The Jumbos answered with a 10-1 stretch for a 28-11 margin following a pair of Spadaford free throws at 8:53.
Threes by sophomore Sam Knollmeyer and freshman Dylan Reno twice pulled Wentworth within 14, including 31-17 with 7:19 to go until halftime. However, that's the closest they would be for the rest of the game.
The Jumbos led 45-21 at the break. Junior Tarik Smith's nine points led eight Tufts scorers at intermission. Ganley's seven paced the Leopards in the first 20 minutes. The Jumbos held their guests to 26.7 percent (8/30) shooting in the first half.
Tufts' lead peaked at 26 points several times in the second half and never went below 18.
Smith finished with 12 points while sophomore Ben Engvall had 10 points (4/6 FGs) with eight rebounds for the Jumbos. Spadaford had nine points and nine boards while junior Drew Madsen led Tufts with 11 caroms, seven offensive. The Jumbos were excellent at the line for the second straight day, finishing at 87 percent (20/23) today. They were +28 in rebounding (58-30).
Romich added three steals for Wentworth while freshman Jack Buckley led the visitors with six rebounds. The Leopards shot 51.7 percent (15/29) in the second half in which the score was an even 41-41.
Tufts returns to the Cousens floor on Tuesday night against MIT at 7 pm. Wentworth plays at the University of New England on Wednesday at 7:30.
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