CAMBRIDGE, MA (November 21, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team hit season highs in points and shooting percentage, knocking off host MIT 91-82 in a high-scoring affair in Rockwell Cage Tuesday evening in non-conference action.
The Jumbos (4-0) finished the night 34-of-67 from the field, making 50.7 percent of their field goals in the win. That shooting clip including a scorching 58.8 percent in the second half as Tufts was 16-of-21 on attempts inside the three-point line. It was the most points in a road game for the Jumbos since posting 97 at New England College last season on January 10, 2023.
It wasn't easy sledding for the Jumbos though, as they trailed for the majority of the first half as the Engineers (1-4) took their largest lead of nine at 27-18 following a lay-up by Wyatt Mowery. The Jumbos would answer with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 31 on a triple from senior
Jay Dieterle, and with the score deadlocked at 33 the Jumbos finished the half on a 9-0 run to take a 42-33 edge into halftime.
The second half saw the Jumbos lead by 12 early on after a
Joshua Bernstein lay-up, but the Engineers clawed back into the contest to make it 54-50 after a triple from Isaac Dobie. MIT regained the lead with 12 minutes to play on a bucket by Merlin Gogolin, but a 7-2 mini-run gave the lead back to Tufts after two free throws by first-year
Jon Medley.
Tufts continued the momentum and pushed its lead up to as much as 13 with 3:09 to go on a
Khai Champion lay-up, holding off the host Engineers to stay unbeaten on the season.
Sophomore
Scott Gyimesi had another banner game for the Jumbos, as he was 9-for-14 for 18 points, adding 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Gyimesi has posted a double-double in all four games this season, and becomes the first Jumbos player since at least 1997 to start the season with double-doubles in the team's opening four contests.
He wasn't alone as Bernstein finished with a career game, going for career-bests of 17 points and 13 rebounds, going a perfect 8-of-8 from the field. Dieterle was 3-of-6 from three-point land, tallying 15 points and six assists, while senior
Casey McLaren finished with a season-high 14 points.
Medley posted nine points off the bench, making all seven of his free throw attempts, and Champion tallied eight points and three assists. The Jumbos dominated in the paint, outscoring the Engineers 52-36 inside, while also holding a 20-6 edge in second-chance points. Tufts out-rebounded their hosts as well on the night, 41-26.
MIT got 19 points each from Will Bland and Michael Zhang, and Gogolin also tacked on 15 points in the loss as the Engineers shot 52.5 percent (32-61) from the floor including making nine of their 21 attempts from behind the arc (42.9 percent).
Tufts will be off for Thanksgiving but returns to the hardwood on Saturday for the Black Coaches Classic at UMass Boston (1-3) at 12:30 p.m. in non-conference play.
--JUMBOS--
