Box Score WALTHAM, Mass. – The No. 3 Tufts men's basketball team battled No. 2 Babson in the championship game of the New England Big Four Challenge on Saturday afternoon hosted by Brandeis University. The Jumbos fell to the Beavers, 91-78, as the Beavers' Joey Flannery finished with 42 points to help them win the tournament title.
|
| Ben Engvall turned in 11 points and five boards for the Jumbos Saturday. |
The loss is the first setback of the season for the Jumbos, as they fall to 6-1 on the year. With the win, Babson improves to 9-0 this season.
Today's game was a rematch of last year's Big Four Challenge championship. Last year the Jumbos got a three with two seconds left in overtime to edge the Beavers. The Jumbos had won three straight tournaments heading into this weekend. And, the 6-0 start matches the best in program history, as the Jumbos started 6-0 back during the 1994-95 season.
Saturday's game was close in the beginning, and the Jumbos would battle the Beavers for the entire first half. Down one, 9-8, early in the first half Isaiah Nelsen turned in back-to-back layups and Nick Comenale and Joey Flannery each added threes to help the Beavers take a 19-8 lead with 14:23 remaining in the first half. The Beavers would hold on to that lead for most of the first half.
The Jumbos were able to put a dent in that lead late. After a Flannery layup put the Beavers up 40-31 with 3:24 left in the half, junior Vincent Pace answered with two, and senior co-captain Tom Palleschi added two free throws to bring the Jumbos within five, 40-35. Flannery then made a three, but Pace answered with a three of this own to keep the Jumbos within five, 43-38, with 1:09 left. But, a Flannery layup and two free throws from Comenale helped the Beavers grow the lead and they took a 49-40 advantage into the break.
The Jumbos came out of the half and put a dent in that lead again as senior co-captain Tarik Smith scored two quick points and then sophomore Ethan Feldman sunk a three that put the Jumbos within four, 49-45, less than a minute into the second half. The two teams would go back and forth and the Jumbos stayed close. A jumper by Palleschi moved the score to 60-57 just under five minutes into the second half. But, the Beavers scored seven unanswered points to take that lead back up to ten, 67-57, with 12:31 left in the game.
That Beaver advantage would be too much for the Jumbos to overcome, and they fell, 91-78.
Palleschi was the leader for the Jumbos with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Pace helped with 13 points and nine boards as well. Junior Ben Engvall turned in 11 points and classmate Everett Dayton and Smith both added nine. For the Beavers, it was Flannery that was the leader with a game-high 42 points and nine rebounds. Nelsen finished with 20 points and 13 boards and Comenale added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Jumbos shot 40.5 percent from the field, compared to Babson's 46.4 percent. But the real advantage came from downtown, where the Beavers shot 45 percent compared to the Jumbos 27.3 percent, and from the free throw line where the Beavers 81.8 percent was better than the Jumbos 63.2 percent.
Tufts will be back in action on Tuesday when they host UMass-Boston for a 7 pm tip-off. Babson takes the court again on Thursday when they travel to top-ranked Amherst for a 7 pm start.
