LEWISTON, ME (January 21, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team led by seven at the break at host Bates College, but the Bobcats stormed back to pick up a 67-63 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win in play from Alumni Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
The Jumbos (13-4, 2-2 NESCAC) led by as many as eight points in the second half with 12:58 to go after a lay-up from first-year
Scott Gyimesi, but the host Bobcats would start to creep back into the game. Bates would eventually tie the game at 54 with just under eight to play with a lay-up by Steph Baxter, though Tufts regained a four-point edge on a
Dylan Thoerner jumper with 5:15 to go.
Bates eventually took its first lead of the game at 62-61 with 1:49 to play on an Elliott Cravitz lay-up, followed by a Devin Harris bucket to make it 64-61 with just over 60 seconds to go. The Bobcats pushed the lead up to five points with 17 seconds to go, but two free throws by
Trumann Gettings with seven seconds left made it a one-score game. Tufts forced a turnover on its next possession, but a tying three in the last few seconds wouldn't go as Bates held on.
Tufts had trailed early on in the contest, as Bates was up by as many as eight points at 12-4 just over five minutes into the game. The Jumbos would go on an 11-2 run to take the lead on a
James Morakis jumper with 10:57 to go in the first half. The teams would exchange the lead eight times over the remainder of the first frame before a 10-2 run over the final six minutes of the stanza gave the Jumbos a 32-25 lead at the intermission.
Thoerner finished with a team-high 18 points, going 5-of-10 from the floor including making a pair of his four three-pointers. Gettings tallied 11 points, while
Khai Champion and Morakis each came off the bench to score nine points. Tufts shot 49 percent from the field on the day (24-49), going 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the free throw line as well. Tufts posted a 36-28 edge in points in the paint, but 16 turnovers turned into 20 points for the host Bobcats.
Cravitz tallied a game-high 22 points for the Bobcats (7-10, 1-3 NESCAC), going 8-of-16 overall while connecting on six of his 12 three-pointers. Harris tallied 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds, and Baxter picked up 18 points as well. Bates posted 12 offensive rebounds, resulting in 13 second-chance points.
Tufts will have a few days off before heading to Williams College Friday, January 27 at 7 p.m. in NESCAC play in Williamstown, MA.
--JUMBOS--
