NEW YORK (December 29, 2022) -- First-year
James Morakis scored a team-high 12 points as one of four players in double-figures, lifting the Tufts University men's basketball team to a 75-64 road win at Yeshiva University in action from the Max Stern Athletic Center Thursday evening.
The Jumbos (9-2) didn't shoot the ball well on Thursday night from the perimeter, but took advantage of their ability to score the ball in the point on drives and post-ups. Tufts held a 54-26 edge in points in the paint, while also outscoring Yeshiva 36-3 in bench points.
Tufts led for the majority of the first half, holding onto an 18-16 advantage with 6:54 remaining in the first half. Sophomore
Trumann Gettings started a 10-0 run for the Jumbos to take their biggest lead of the game at 12 points with four minutes remaining in the half.
Yeshiva (8-7) trimmed its deficit down to seven with three minutes left in the first half, but Tufts ended up taking a 34-23 lead into the break. After the halftime break, Yeshiva stormed out of the locker room with a 14-2 run to take a 37-36 lead on a Max Zackheim three-pointer.
The two teams traded buckets over the next four possessions but the Jumbos started a 14-2 run with 15 minutes left go in regulation, capped by back-to-back buckets from Morakis to make the score 52-41 with 8:46 remaining. The Tufts' lead grew up to 16 twice late in the second half as the Jumbos rolled to the victory. Tufts is now 3-0 on the road in Division III game in 2022-23.
Morakis scored eight of his career-high 12 points in the second half, making 5-of-7 from the field while pulling in five rebounds. Senior
Dylan Thoerner was in foul trouble for much of the game, but managed 11 points, and
Tyler Aronson scored eight his 10 points in the first half. Gettings just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting.
Guard
Theo Henry came off the bench to score eight points while adding four rebounds, and
Khai Champion also tallied seven points. Senior
Carson Cohen contributed six points, five rebounds and four assists, and first-year
Joshua Bernstein pulled in a career-high eight rebounds while scoring four points.
Tufts shot 52.6 percent (30-57) from the floor, despite making just two of its 16 shots from behind the three-point line. Zakheim scored a game-high 24 points while Zevi Samet scored 20 points as well for Yeshiva.
The Jumbos are off until next Friday, battling the Camels of Connecticut College January 6 at 7 p.m. in New London, CT in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opener.
--JUMBOS--
