Box Score
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| Tom Palleschi finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five blocks |
MEDFORD – The No. 19 Tufts men's basketball team built a sizeable lead and held off a Williams comeback to pull out a 77-71 NESCAC Quarterfinal win at Cousens Gym on Saturday afternoon. The Jumbos starting five combined for 65 of the 77 points, with four of the five scoring in double digits.
With the conference tournament win the No. 3 seeded Jumbos improve to 20-5 on the season and advance to play No. 2 seed Amherst next Saturday in the semifinals of the conference tournament hosted by No. 1 seed Trinity. The set back ends Williams' season, as the Ephs finished with a 15-10 record.
Junior tri-captain Tom Palleschi drained a three to open the game and the Jumbos would not trail after that. Just about four minutes into the game Palleschi made a jumper, followed by a three from senior tri-captain Ryan Spadaford, and two points from sophomore Vincent Pace to extend the Jumbos lead to eight.
But the Ephs were able to cut away at the Jumbos lead about halfway through the first period. Two free throws from Kyle Scadlock, followed by a layup from Daniel Aronowitz and a three from Cole Teal tied the contest at 19 with 10:01 left on the clock.
Palleschi made one of two free throws and senior tri-captain Stephen Haladyna drained a three to bring the lead back to four in the Jumbos advantage, 23-19 with just over nine minutes remaining in the half. But, two threes from Aronowitz sandwiched a jumper from sophomore Everett Dayton, and the second three tied the contest for the second time in the half, this time at 25.
Back-to-back baskets from downtown from junior Tarik Smith and Haladyna gave the Jumbos a six point lead, 31-25, and a layups by Pace and sophomore Ben Engvall handed the Jumbos a ten point advantage, 35-25 with just over two minutes remaining. The Jumbos and Ephs would trade points, and the home team took the 38-30 advantage into halftime.
Palleschi had a team-leading eight first half points for the Jumbos while Haladyna and Pace helped with six each. For the Ephs, Aronowitz finished the first half with 11 points as Teal added six of his own.
The Jumbos built a sizable lead to start the second half. After Edward Flynn scored two for the Ephs to open the second half and cut the Jumbos lead to six, Tufts scored 11 unanswered points in just over six minutes to bring their lead to 17, the score 49-32.
Bobby Casey made two free throws to get the Ephs back on the board, but just a few minutes later Spadaford drained a three that brought the Jumbos lead back to 19. The Ephs and the Jumbos traded points, and with 6:28 left in the game, the Jumbos were still 19 points ahead, 59-40.
A layup by Flynn, followed by six points from Aronowitz cut the Jumbo lead to 11, and then Scadlock sunk a three of his own to cut the lead to eight, 59-51, with 4:18 remaining. Over the course of the next four minutes Aronowitz scored 13 points to bring the Ephs within four with just 36 seconds remaining in the game.
But the Jumbos would make nine of their 11 free throws during those final four minutes of play, which aided them in hanging on for the win 77-71.
Pace finished with 16 points and three steals for the Jumbos, as Smith added 15 points and five assists and Palleschi finished with 14 points six rebounds and five blocks. Haladyna helped with 12 points and Spadaford added eight points and nine rebounds to the winning effort.
Aronowitz tied his season high with 32 points to lead the Eph offense. Casey added ten points and six rebounds off the bench and Flynn finished with eight points and six boards.
The Jumbos will now have the week to prepare to take on No. 2 seeded Amherst at Trinity on Saturday at 4 pm. The Jumbos topped the Purple and White at home earlier this season, 84-73.
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