MEDFORD, MA (January 13, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team picked up its first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win of the 2022-23 season Friday, as it forced visiting Amherst College into 30.6 percent shooting in a 61-43 win in play from Cousens Gymnasium.
Either team shot the ball well the entire night, but it was Tufts (11-3, 1-1 NESCAC) ability to hold Amherst off the scoreboard in the second half that proved to be the difference. Tufts allowed only seven made buckets in the second 20 minutes of the game, as the Mammoths (5-9, 1-2 NESCAC) shot 25 percent in the second half as the Jumbos pulled away.
The opening stanza saw Tufts answer an early 3-0 lead by the Mammoths with a 7-0 run capped by a jumper by sophomore
Trumann Gettings. The Jumbos would grow their lead up to eight points on a triple by senior
Tyler Aronson off a nice feed from
Carson Cohen to make the score 14-6 with 10:53 remaining in the first half. Amherst would claw back into the contest, tying the game at 16 with six minutes left in the opening frame on a three-pointer by Drew Martin.
Tufts responded right back with a 7-0 run of its own, highlighted by a traditional three-point play from sophomore
Khai Champion, eventually taking that seven-point lead into the locker room with the score 28-21. The Jumbos would come out of the second half quick, upping their lead to as much as 18 at 47-29 after a jumper from first-year
Scott Gyimesi. Amherst wouldn't go away, putting together an 8-0 spurt to make it a 10-point game with 9:08 left after a three from Dan Schlakman.
The Jumbos would grow their lead back up to 16 over the next five minutes, as Tufts allowed only one field goal over that span to pull away. In fact, Tufts surrendered only six points over the final nine minutes of the game in locking down the victory.
Another huge story in the contest was the Jumbos ability to take advantage of turnovers, as the hosts turned 24 Mammoth turnovers into 28 points. Tufts got a game-high 13 points from Aronson Friday night, as he was 5-of-11 from the field while pulling in six rebounds. Senior
Theo Henry was big both offensively and defensively, scoring 11 points off the bench in addition to his five rebounds, two steals and three charges drawn.
Senior
Dylan Thoerner added eight points while Cohen finished with seven points and two steals. Champion came off the bench to tally six points, while first-year
Joshua Bernstein posted a game-high and career-best 10 rebounds in the victory.
The Mammoths got 13 points from Ryker Vance, as he also grabbed seven rebounds, and Will Scherer posted six points, seven rebounds and three blocks in the loss. The win for Tufts over Amherst was its third straight in the series, the longest stretch of wins against the Mammoths since a five-game winning streak from 1982-1986.
Tufts will turn right around for more conference play Saturday, January 14, taking on Hamilton College in Cousens Gymnasium at 3 p.m.
--JUMBOS--
