Box Score Parts of this recap courtesy of Bates College
LEWISTON, Maine — On the road for the first time in a while the No. 4 Tufts men's basketball team suffered their first NESCAC loss, falling to Bates, 84-72, on Saturday afternoon. The Jumbos were the lone undefeated team in conference play heading into Saturday's contest.
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| Ben Engvall scored nine points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. |
The Jumbos are now 16-3 overall and 6-1 in NESCAC play, as the Bobcats improve to 14-6 overall with a 4-3 mark in conference tilts.
Bates took the lead for good in the first half when Marcus Delpeche made a layup with 5:23 remaining to put the Bobcats up 28-26. It was the 12th lead change in the game to that point, but there would be no more.
The layup started a personal 7-0 run for Delpeche that put the Bobcats up 33-26 before the Jumbos' Ben Engvall hit a three with 2:53 left to cut the Bates lead to 33-29. Bates ended the first half up 39-31. Tufts got no closer than to within seven points of the Bobcats in the second half.
With Bates up 39-32 early in the second half, Darling drilled back-to-back threes, bringing the crowd at Alumni Gym to their feet and extending the lead to 45-33.
With 11:58 remaining, first-year Jeff Spellman nailed a three to give the Bobcats an 18-point lead, their biggest of the game. Spellman poured in 10 points off the bench on 4-5 shooting to go along with five rebounds and three assists. .
Senior Malcolm Delpeche had a tough game (four points on 2-10 shooting) due to foul trouble but he got a highlight reel moment with 8:08 left in the contest. Leading 65-53, Bates forced a turnover when Malcolm Delpeche intercepted a pass. He got the ball to Gilpin on the fast break and Gilpin lobbed it up for Malcolm who slammed it home, causing Alumni Gym to once again erupt in excitement.
With 6:47 left, the Jumbos' Vincent Pace made a jumper to trim the Bobcat advantage to 67-58. But Marcus Delpeche made a jumper and Darling sank two free throws to put Bates up 13 with 5:21 to go.
The last time Tufts got to within single digits came with 1:32 left in regulation. Pace hit a three to make the score 77-70 in favor of Bates.
Darling and Marcus Delpeche combined to make seven free throws down the stretch, putting Tufts away for good.
Pace and Tarik Smith led Tufts with 19 points apiece. Everett Dayton added 10 points of his own. Meanwhile Engvall scored nine points and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds.
For the Bobcats, Marcus Delpeche scored a game-high 28 points and added 11 rebounds, while Darling tallied a career-high 21 points.
The Jumbos take the court again on Tuesday with a trip to UMass-Boston for a 7 pm start. The Bobcats are back in action in non-conference play this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. when they host Maine-Farmington at 5:30 p.m.
