MEDFORD, MA (January 26, 2024) -- A rocky start for the Jumbos turned into a hard-fought and energetic win against Williams College Friday evening, as the Tufts University men's basketball team rallied back for a 62-57 victory inside Cousens Gymnasium while handing Williams its first conference loss of the season.
The nail-biter was the fifth New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) game for Tufts, and the atmosphere was electric as Cousens Gymnasium was packed with fans for the important conference match-up.
The first 20 minutes saw the Jumbos (15-4, 2-3 NESCAC) battling through adversity on both ends, especially as the Ephs (15-5, 5-1 NESCAC) continued to put pressure from inside the lane and behind the arc.
However, the same offensive lapses and defensive struggles that held Tufts back did not make an appearance in the second half, and the team came out firing on all cylinders. Leaders like junior guard Khai Champion (18 points) and senior guard Jay Dieterle (nine points) kept composed and put up big numbers to fight off the opposition's late advances. After Williams led 57-54 with 4:27 left in the game, Tufts came back scoring eight straight points to close out the home-court victory.
Tufts was forced to rally after an 8-0 run at the start gave the Ephs an early lead. A combination of unsuccessful defensive stops and missed put-backs for the Jumbos made for a difficult first ten minutes. Williams shot well from beyond the three-point line, with sophomore guard Alex Lee having six points on the half and senior center Nate Karren shooting 5-for-9 and 50 percent from three.
Later in the first half, the Brown & Blue found another gear. After being down 27-13 with 8:02 to go, Champion and sophomore Joshua Bernstein led a Tufts' 15-2 run against the Ephs, with 18 points combined between the two of them going into halftime. Sophomore guard James Morakis also contributed offensively with multiple assists and rebounds, as well as putting up four points to cut the score to 29-27.
The second half was a much stronger start for the Jumbos, led by baskets from senior Casey McLaren as well as sophomores Morakis and Scott Gyimesi. After an exciting three-pointer from Champion, the Ephs elected to take a timeout at 13:07 to put out the fire that was Tufts' outside shooting. A constant back-and-forth then ensued between the NESCAC competitors, that is until Dieterle went 4-for-5 from the field in the half and put up nine points.
While Ephs' junior guard Noah Dinkins proved to be an offensive threat (6-for-9, 3-for-4 from three), Williams could not hold on at the end. A major contributor to the Tufts' offense in the last ten minutes was freshman guard Jon Medley, who ended up scoring big end-of-game free throws to help the Jumbos pull away and seal the deal. Aside from helping his team secure the lead, Medley had seven boards to accompany Gyimesi's 14 rebounds.
The biggest sequence of the contest came with under two minutes to go, as Dieterle ran a give-and-go with Bernstein and the senior connected on a corner jumper to put the Jumbos ahead. After a forced turnover by Tufts, two offensive rebounds on subsequent free throws by the Jumbos helped seal the win with just over 30 seconds to go.
The 62 points scored for Tufts were the result of contributions from eight players, exemplifying the extreme depth of the team. Both teams shot around 40% (Tufts shot 41.4%, Williams 39.0%), but the 'Bos just slightly edged out their opponent with the help from the free throw line.
Tufts (15-4, 2-3 NESCAC) will return to Cousens Gymnasium Saturday at 3 p.m. to host another NESCAC battle against the Panthers of Middlebury College.
Make sure to check gotuftsjumbos.com as to any scheduling updates to Saturday's game, while following along on social media on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram @tuftsjumbos.
--JUMBOS–
