MEDFORD, MA (November 29, 2022) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team, receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, led at the half but couldn't hold off the third-ranked Blue Jays of University of Saint Joseph in a 77-57 loss Tuesday night in non-conference action from Cousens Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (5-1) suffered their first defeat of the season, but the final score does not tell the actual story of the contest. In fact, with four minutes to go the Jumbos trailed by just five at 62-57 after a three-pointer from
Casey McLaren. The Blue Jays from that point finished the game on a 15-0 run as the Jumbos went 0-of-7 down the stretch, pulling away for the victory. Prior to that stretch though, the game had been tight affair.
Tufts led 34-33 at the break but Saint Joseph (5-0) started the second half on a 7-0 run to make it 40-34. Tufts made it a one-possession game twice early in the second half, but the USJ lead would swell up to 12 points with 7:42 to go in the regulation. Tufts climbed back into the game on back-to-back threes from
Theo Henry and McLaren, but Ryan O'Neill started the final run for the Blue Jays that doomed the Jumbos.
The first half was much like the second, as Saint Joseph took an early double-digit lead of 23-10 but the Jumbos slowly pulled back into the game, taking their first lead since 2-0 with 1:14 to go in the stanza on a
Dylan Thoerner jumper. After the Blue Jays regained the lead with 43 seconds left in the firs thalf,
Carson Cohen answered with a lay-up that was called for goaltending to send the Jumbos to the half with a 34-33 lead.
The host Jumbos were paced by the 13 points and five rebounds from Thoerner, who also picked up four assists. McLaren was 4-of-6 from three-point land for 12 points, and Henry tallied nine points, six boards and three helpers in the loss.
Trumann Gettings also added eight points and six rebounds for the Jumbos, who shot 38.5 percent for the contest. Tufts also was 0-of-4 from the free throw line marking the first time since records were kept that Tufts has not made a free throw in a game. The previous low on record was one at Lesley University December 1, 2009.
The Blue Jays showed their depth with 44 bench points on the night, including leading scorer Alec Kinder who finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. O'Neill tallied 13 points and two rebounds, while Chaylyn Martin also came off the bench to score 12 points. Jalen Samuels led all rebounders with 12, as the USJ outrebounded Tufts 50-38 on the night which included 19 offensive rebounds.
The Jumbos are back in action on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Cousens Gymnasium, hosting UMass Dartmouth in non-conference action.
--JUMBOS--
