Box Score SALEM – The Tufts University men's basketball team earned a spot in the New England Big 4 Challenge championship game with a 68-61 win over Brandeis University in the opening game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon at Salem State University.
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| Luke Rogers was three blocks short of a triple-double for Tufts. |
In a game that came down to the closing minutes, a pair of free throws by junior Luke Rogers and a driving lay-up from sophomore Carson Cohen gave Tufts a 64-61 lead they would not relinquish.
Tufts (6-1) will face either host Salem State or Babson in the tournament final on Sunday at 2 pm. Brandeis (5-3) will play the loser of the other game in Sunday's consolation contest at noon.
The Jumbos led Brandeis by 13 points at the half (36-23) today. However, Judges junior Chandler Jones caught fire in the second half scoring 21 of his game-high 25 points to get Brandeis back in it. His and-one gave the Judges just their second lead of the game at 57-56 with 4:18 remaining in regulation.
Brandeis led 61-58 on a jumper by senior Collin Sawyer with 3:19 on the clock. Jumbo junior Brennan Morris answered with a jumper at 3:02 that made it a one-point game which stood until Tufts called a time-out at 2:04. Rogers hit his free throws out of the time-out, and then after a Brandeis miss Cohen darted through the left side of the lane for his lay-up.
Sophomore Tyler Aronson stole the ball on the ensuing Brandeis possession and made two free throws at the other end. That gave the Jumbos a 66-61 advantage at 1:13. After a Jumbo turnover sandwiched around two Brandeis misses, Cohen sank a pair of free throws with 22 seconds on the clock for a 68-61 Jumbo lead that was followed by a Judges turnover to end it.
Tufts had built its halftime lead on the strength of excellent three-point shooting. The Jumbos were six of 12 from long range in the first 20 minutes with six different players hitting trifectas.
Brandeis got the margin down to four points (40-36) with a 13-4 run to open the second half. Two free throws and a pair of three-pointers by Jones made it 40-36 at the 16-minute mark. Tufts got the next two on a lay-up by senior tri-captain Eric Savage and a free throw by Rogers, but a three by Brandeis senior Eric D'Aguanno at 13:11 made it one-possession game (44-41).
The Jumbos went three minutes without a field goal, but kept their lead at the line as junior tri-captain Will Brady hit a pair for a 46-41 advantage at 12:12. Then freshman Dylan Thoerner broke the field goal slump with a three that put Tufts up 49-43 at 11:35. Led by Jones the Judges surged to a lead, but the Jumbos had the answers late to advance to their first New England Big 4 Challenge final since 2016.
Rogers led the Jumbos with a near triple-double of 13 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks. Cohen and Savage both finished at 11 points, with Cohen adding four assists and Savage six rebounds. Freshmen Thoerner and Casey McLaren both had seven points off the bench for the Jumbos.
Junior Lawrence Sabir and sophomore Nolan Hagerty supported Jones with 10 points each on the Brandeis side. Jones also had a team-high six rebounds while Hagerty added four assists.
