MEDFORD, MA (January 16, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team led by as many as 36 points Monday afternoon, earning a matinee victory on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with an emphatic 103-69 win over visiting University of Maine at Presque Isle in non-conference action from Cousens Gymnasium.
The victory was Tufts (13-3) fourth straight win, while moving to 8-1 at home this season. The victory also saw some players have career games off the bench, highlighted by performances from senior
Jay Dieterle and first-years
Scott Gyimesi and
Joshua Bernstein. Dieterle scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting Monday afternoon, adding two boards, two steals and two assists. Bernstein continued to show strong progress with another solid game, as he established new collegiate-highs of 12 points and four blocks, also pulling in seven rebounds. Gyimesi had a nice all-around game as well with a team-high 11 rebounds, dishing out a team-best five assists as well, both career-highs.
Senior
Theo Henry also netted 11 points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench, while junior
Casey McLaren was one of four players in double digits with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, making 3-of-5 from downtown. In all, 16 players scored for the Jumbos on Monday afternoon while the 103 points were the most in a game since recording 103 on November 16, 2019 at Emerson College to start the 2019-20 season. It was also the second time in 2022-23 that Tufts has hit the century mark, as the Jumbos scored 100 against MIT on November 22 in a 30-point win over the Engineers.
The contest was close through the first 12 minutes of the game as the Jumbos led by only three at 26-23 following a lay-up by UMPI's Dany Harris at the 7:52 mark of the period. Tufts slowly built its lead up to double-figures late in the first half, finishing the final 2:22 on a 10-2 run to take a 51-34 lead into the intermission. After the break, the Owls (3-11) trimmed their deficit down to 14 with 15 minutes to play at 62-48, but Tufts rattled off a 16-2 spurt on the strength of five points each from Henry and sophomore
Khai Champion to make the score 78-50.
Tufts would continue to add to its lead, which got as high as 36 points with just over a minute to play on a lay-up from senior
Kris Bortz as the hosts cruised to the home win. First-year
James Morakis was economical with his 11 minutes on the floor, scoring eight points while adding three assists, and starters
Trumann Gettings and
Dylan Thoerner each poured in seven points apiece.
Senior
Carson Cohen finished with six points and his classmate Bortz also established new career-highs of six points, five rebounds and three assists. First-year
Theo Liu finished with four points and three rebounds, and
Bobby Stewart added eight rebounds as well. The Jumbos shot 51.9 percent (40-77) from the field on Monday, while knocking down a solid 82.4 percent from the free throw line (14-17). Tufts also dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Owls 57-28 which led to a sizable 19 second-chance points. Tufts also got 80 points off the bench, and finished with a 32-11 edge in fast break points.
Owls' leading scorer Griffin Gierrette registered a game-high 23 points, while Gilbert Jean Mendez also posted 14 points for UMPI. David Ellington also came off the bench to record 10 points for Maine-Presque Isle, who took care of the ball with just nine turnovers but made just 24 of its 67 field goals (35.8 percent) for the game.
Tufts will have a little time off after finishing a four games in seven days stretch Monday, heading to Lewiston, ME on Saturday, January 21 for a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) bout with Bates College at 3 p.m.
--JUMBOS--
