WEST HARTFORD, CT (December 6, 2023) -- The No. 12 Tufts University men's basketball team showed its depth once again Wednesday evening, as five players posted double figures in an 86-77 road victory at the University of Saint Joseph of Connecticut in play from James A. Calhoun Gymnasium.
The victory for the Jumbos upped their record to 9-0 on the season, while seven of the nine victories have come on the road. Tufts also handed Saint Joseph (6-2) its first home non-conference loss since 2019, as Tufts stayed one of just 23 undefeated teams in Division III out of 413 squads.
The first half was back-and-forth as Tyree Mitcher hit a three-pointer for the Blue Jays to make it 20-16 in favor of the hosts with 10:35 remaining in the opening stanza. First-year
Liam Kennelly started a 7-0 run with a jumper, followed by a triple by fellow newcomer
Jon Medley and a field goal from senior
Jay Dieterle to make it 23-20 Jumbos.
USJ got as close as 23-22 on a Kevin Cummings' jump shot, but Tufts slowly pushed its lead up to eight points with 41 seconds left on a Dieterle field goal to take a 43-35 edge into the halftime intermission. After the break, Tufts took its first double-digit lead less than a minute into the second half on a
Joshua Bernstein bucket.
The Jumbos' edge would grow up to 13 points on a three-pointer by junior
Khai Champion with 14:36 to go, but the Blue Jays would battle back. USJ slowly chipped away at its deficit before Friedrich Feldrappe hit a jumper with 6:30 to play to make it a four-point game at 69-65. Tufts tallied the next six points highlighted by a three from Dieterle to make it a 10-point edge again at 75-65 with three minutes left.
The Blue Jays continued to push back, making it a two-score game with 42 seconds left but free throws down the stretch by Medley and Champion helped the Jumbos put the game away. Sophomore
James Morakis finished with a team-high 20 points on Wednesday, going 6-of-10 from the floor while making eight of his 10 free throw attempts.
Sophomore
Scott Gyimesi tallied his seventh double-double of the season to tie for the most in Division III, as he finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, adding three assists and three steals. Dieterle tallied 11 points and five steals, and Medley recorded a career-high 14 points as he was 4-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-3 from downtown.
Bernstein finished 5-of-7 from the field for 10 points, blocking two shots and pulling in four rebounds for Tufts. The Jumbos shot 44.8 percent from the floor Wednesday (30-67), and were stellar at the free throw line making 21 of their 29 attempts from the line. Tufts also turned the ball over just nine times, and held a 44-22 points in paint edge.
Mitchell poured in a game-high 28 points for the Blue Jays, going 9-of-16 on field goal attempts while making six of his nine attempts from behind the arc. Jalen Samuels also tallied 14 points and six rebounds, as USJ shot 46.6 percent from the field and 9-of-20 from downtown (45.0 percent).
Tufts will look to continue its unbeaten run this upcoming Saturday with its toughest test of the year, heading to No. 5 Keene State College (8-1) for a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Tournament Second Round contest from Keene, NH.
--JUMBOS--
