Box Score MEDFORD – With five different players in double digits, the No. 17 Tufts men's basketball team downed visiting Williams College on Friday night in Cousens Gym. The Jumbos celebrated their three seniors, Drew Madsen, Tom Palleschi and Tarik Smith, prior to Friday night's game.
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| Drew Madsen was one of three seniors recognized before the game Friday |
The Jumbos wrap up their regular season with a 19-5 record overall and an 8-2 record in NESCAC play. The Ephs fall to 16-7 overall and 4-5 in conference play. The win, coupled with an Amherst loss, gives the Jumbos the number one seed in the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in program history. They will host a NESCAC Quarterfinal game in Cousens Gym next Saturday, and if they win that, the NESCAC Semifinals and Finals the following weekend.
The Jumbos jumped out to an early lead in the first half, and they would never trail from there. Despite falling behind early, the Ephs were able to hang in there and kept within about five points for most of the first half of the first half.
With a 21-18 lead the Jumbos got two from Madsen, followed by a three from junior Ben Engvall and two free throws from junior Everett Dayton to take a 28-18 lead with 6:37 left. After a dunk from the Ephs' Kyle Scadlock, the Jumbos answered with one from downtown and two free throws from junior KJ Garrett, a three from sophomore Ethan Feldman, a layup from Smith, two free throws from Feldman, a layup from junior Vincent Pace and a three from Smith to take a 45-23 lead with just under a minute remaining in the half.
Williams came out of the half and they were able to generate some offense. But, the Jumbos answered with points of their own and the lead would hover at a bit over 20 for most of the second half. After a James Heskett free throws the Jumbos got a three from Pace, sandwiched by threes from freshman Eric Savage to increase their lead to 30, 74-44. After a layup from Scadlock broke up the scoring streak, the Jumbos got back-to-back-to-back threes from Savage, Garrett and Savage again to move to their largest lead of the night, 83-51, with 8:07 left in the game. The Jumbos held on to the lead to pick up the 93-68 win.
Savage was on fire in the second half, scoring 17-second half points, including five-of-seven from behind the arc. His 17 points led the Jumbos as Smith and Garrett each finished with 15. Feldman and Engvall tallied 12 points each and Engvall added five rebounds to his night. Pace finished with eight points, but a team-high nine rebounds and five assists. The Jumbos were 18-for-36 from downtown on the night. The 18 made is the second most this season only to the 19-for-38 they shot from behind the arc against Newbury earlier this year.
Williams got a team-high 16 points from Bobby Casey, and Scadlock added 15 points of his own. Daniel Aronowitz finished with seven points and a game-high ten rebounds. Matthew Karpowicz added eight points and Marcos Soto finished with six.
The Jumbos now await their opponent in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. Bates, Hamilton and Williams are all tied for sixth place in the conference standings with a 4-5 mark. The Ephs travel up to Bates for a 2 pm start tomorrow. Hamilton hosts Amherst on Saturday for a 3 pm start. The Jumbos will host the eighth seed on Saturday, February 18 for what will likely be a 1 pm start.
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