MEDFORD, MA (November 19, 2022) -- Tufts University, making its home debut for the 2022-23 season on Saturday, came out of the gates firing as it made 67.9 percent from the field in the opening half en route to an 82-73 victory over Babson College in the New England Big 4 Tournament opener in Cousens Gymnasium. The Jumbos (2-0) will now take on Endicott College, who knocked off Salem State University 79-62 in the first game of the day.
Tufts came out quick in the contest, is it led 11-0 over the first 2:41 of the contest as
Tyler Aronson posted five points during the stretch. The Jumbos would lead by as many as 18 in the first half, as a
Trumann Gettings layup made the score 35-17 with 7:55 remaining in the stanza. The Jumbos continued to hit shots throughout the frame, but Andrew Kirkpatrick of Babson hit a three right before the halftime buzzer to make it a 14-point game at 46-32 at the break.
The Jumbos made 19 of their 28 shots in the first half, including hitting four of their eight shots from behind the arcs. After the intermission, sophomore
Khai Champion hit a triple to push the lead back up to 18 at 12:56 of the second half, but Babson went on a 17-4 run over the next four minutes to make it a five-point game with 8:32 to play.
On the next possession for the Jumbos,
Theo Henry hit a driving lay-up to make it an eight-point game again but the Beavers (2-2) wouldn't go away. With 1:24 to play Nate Amado scored on a layup to make it 74-69, but the Jumbos were able to ice the game at the line hitting all six attempts at the stripe while
Dylan Thoerner put an exclamation point on the win with a two-handed jam to seal the win.
Champion had a career-high on the afternoon, as the guard posted a collegiate-high 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting as he connected on three of her four shots from behind the three-point line. Aronson tallied 15 points and a team-best eight rebounds, going 5-of-8 from the field, while Thoerner had 11 points and
Casey McLaren tallied 10 points. McLaren didn't miss a shot on the game, going 4-for-4 while hitting both of his three-point attempts, and Thoerner's four assists were a career-high.
Theo Henry was strong off the bench as well, as he led all players with a +16 on the day, scoring nine points to go with five boards and three assists. Gettings finished with seven points, and
Bobby Stewart scored all eight of his points in the first half. Tufts outscored the Beavers 38-15 in bench points on the day, while leading for all but 14 seconds of the game. Tufts also made half of its three-pointer attempts, connecting on seven of 14 from deep.
Babson was paced by the career-high 31 points from Amado, who was 12-of-19 from the field, and Timmy O'Toole also registered 11 points. Parker Mason chalked up a game-high 10 rebounds, as Babson finished 27-of-68 (39.7 percent) on field goals Saturday.
Salem State and Babson will play in the Big 4 Tournament consolation game at noon in Cousens Gymnasium.
--JUMBOS--
