Box Score MEDFORD – Senior Eric Savage turned in 18 points, eight rebounds and nine assists and the Tufts men's basketball team cruised to a 96-78 victory over No. 22 Amherst in Cousens Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The win closes out a 2-0 NESCAC weekend for the Jumbos, who improve to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in NESCAC contests. Amherst is 11-5 overall and 2-3 in conference games after the loss.
Amherst opened up scoring with layups from Michael Schretter and Grant Robinson, but the Jumbos tied things up thanks to a layup from junior Luke Rogers and a couple of free throws from sophomore Carson Cohen. A Savage jumper put the home team on top, and they increased the lead to six thanks to a layup from Rogers and a jumper from sophomore Tyler Aronson. Aronson added another jumper about two minutes later to push the lead to eight, 12-4, about six minutes into play.
A few minutes later a three from Amherst's Garrett Day cut the lead to six, but the Jumbos answered with a layup from Rogers and then Rogers dunked to give the Jumbos a 23-13 advantage halfway through the first half. Ahead by 11 with 7:31 left in the half junior Brennan Morris made three at the charity stripe to increase the Jumbo lead to 14. The Jumbos would lead by as many as 17 in the first half.
Amherst was able to cut that lead a bit before the break. Down by 17 with 1:51 on the clock Amherst scored eight unanswered thanks to a layup from Tim McCarthy and then back-to-back threes from Robinson and Chery. The Jumbos answered with a jumper from Aronson to push the lead back to 11, but Robinson drained a deep three at the buzzer to cut the lead to eight. Tufts took a 46-38 advantage into the break.
Out of the intermission Amherst got to work right away, cutting the Jumbo lead to four thanks to back-to-back jumpers from Fru Che. That would be as close as the Mammoths would get. After the two teams traded baskets, Rogers dunked and then sophomore Carson Cohen drained a three. On their next possession Savage got his own rebound and put it back up to push the lead to 11, 55-44, just three minutes into the second half. About two minutes later a three from Morris moved the Jumbo lead to 14 with 15:01 remaining in the game.
The Mammoths were able to cut that lead a bit but never got closer than nine. After the Morris three the Mammoths got a three from Will Phelan and then a couple of free throws from Phelan cut the lead to nine with 14:19 left. But, after the teams each scored the Jumbos moved the lead to 15 with back-to-back threes from freshman Dylan Thoerner and Cohen. They would lead by as many as 21 on their way to the 96-78 win.
Five different Jumbos scored in double-digits. Rogers was the offensive leader for the Jumbos with a game-high 25 points along with six rebounds. Savage finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Morris tallied 14 points and seven rebounds. Aronson finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Cohen added ten points, five rebounds and three assists. Thoerner turned in eight points and two rebounds, along with a block and a steal, off the bench.
Amherst had six different players with double-digit points. McCarthy and Robinson were the leaders with 15 points each. Robinson also added three rebounds and four assists. Chery added 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. Garrett Day finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Che tallied 11 points and four boards and Phelan collected ten points and four rebounds.
The Jumbos are back in action on Saturday when they host Bates for a 3 pm start. Amherst plays again on Wednesday when they travel to take on Williams with a 7 pm scheduled tip-off.
