BRIDGEWATER, MA (November 15, 2024) -- Sophomore
Dylan Reilly tallied a career-high 17 points, leading a group of four scorers in double figures Friday as the No. 13 Tufts University men's basketball team started its 2024-25 season with a 94-72 win at Bridgewater State University in play from the Tinsley Center.
The Jumbos were able to dominate in the paint on Friday night, outscoring their hosts 44-26 inside the paint. Tufts also posted a decided 18-2 edge in second-chance points, thanks to 15 offensive rebounds for the contest.
Tufts (1-0) scored the first six points of the game and led until a three-pointer by Louis Jennings hit a three-pointer with 12:06 to go in the first half to give the Bears (3-1) a 16-14 lead. Tufts answered right back on a triple from Reilly, using that to start a 17-4 run to give the Jumbos a 31-20 lead with just over seven minutes to play.
The lead would swell up to 14 in the first half, but BSU worked its deficit down to nine at the half at 46-37. The Jumbos were led at the half by Reilly and his nine points, while junior guard
James Morakis poured in eight points and dished out four assists in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, Tufts took its biggest lead of the game at 76-56 with 7:57 to play on a three-point play by
Jon Medley. The Jumbos would lead by as much as 27 with four minutes to play on a three-pointer from
Quinn Cain, rolling to the victory.
Reilly was 6-of-11 from the field, going 5-of-10 from three-point land, adding two rebounds and two steals. Morakis was efficient on his way to 16 points, shooting 7-of-11 in 18 minutes of play. He added four assists and three rebounds as well.
Medley posted a double-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on Friday, adding two steals, and junior
Scott Gyimesi nearly tallied a triple-double as he recorded 13 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Junior
Joshua Bernstein also had eight points, seven caroms and two blocks.
Junior
Sidney Wooten came off the bench to pour in six points, and sophomore
Zion Watt also had six points on 2-of-5 shooting from behind the arc. Tufts shot 34-of-71 (47.9 percent) from the floor, while making 11 of its 30 three-point attempts (36.7 percent). The Jumbos also were 15-of-20 at the charity stripe.
Jennings led Bridgewater State with 15 points, while Dante Kikuba and Josh Campbell each posted 14 points apiece.
The Jumbos will have a day off Saturday before heading back out on the road to battle Emerson College Sunday, November 17 at 3:30 p.m. in non-conference play.
--JUMBOS--
