MEDFORD, MA (February 10, 2024) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team shot 23.3 percent in the opening half, proving to be the difference as the Jumbos dropped the 2023-24 season finale to No. 10 Trinity College 82-66 on Senior Day in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play from Cousens Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (18-6, 5-5 NESCAC) honored their two seniors in
Casey McLaren and
Jay Dieterle prior to the contest for their four years of commitment to the program, as the pair were joined by family members on the floor and celebrated by the crowd.
After the tip though, visiting Trinity (23-1, 9-1 NESCAC) took control defensively as the Bantams scored eight of the first 10 points with six coming on threes from Ben Callahan-Gold. The Jumbos struggled to get their stroke going in the first half, but Trinity on the other hand was strong from behind the arc with seven made threes in the first 20 minutes. Trinity would grow its lead up to as much as 22 points in the first half on a Will Dorian three-pointer before taking a 41-20 lead into the locker room.
Tufts was 7-for-30 from the floor in the first half, making just three two-pointers all half, while making only 4-of-14 (28.5 percent) from behind the three-point arc. On the other side, Trinity was 15-of-33 (45.5 percent) overall in the first stanza, paced by the 12 points from Dorion. The Jumbos would come alive in the second half, outscoring their visitors 46-41 in the second half, and even cut the Bantams' lead down 12 twice, but couldn't get any closer in dropping just their second home game of the season.
Sophomore center
Joshua Bernstein was strong for the Jumbos, going 6-of-9 from the floor fo 14 points, adding five rebounds. Dieterle finished with 11 points and four helpers, and first-year
Dylan Reilly came off the bench to tally a career-high 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting from behind the three-point line. First-year
Jon Medley added eight points and five boards off the bench as well, while McLaren posted five points and three rebounds.
Tufts finished the afternoon 23-of-66 (34.8 percent) overall, while the 31 three-pointers taken were tied for a season high.
Trinity put four players in double digits, led by Callahan-Gold and his 19 points. Jarrel Okorougo posted 19 points and six rebounds, and Dorion also tallied 14 points as well. Henry Vetter nearly had a triple-double on the game for Trinity, tallying 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Trinity turned the ball over just 10 times all game, while earning a 42-37 edge on the glass.
Tufts finishes the regular season 18-6 and 5-5 in the league, tied with Amherst College and Middlebury College. According to the NESCAC Championship manual, in the event of a three-way tie the tiebreakers are in this order:
1. Best record among tying teams
2. Most conference wins in conference counting contests
3. Comparison of results against conference top four teams
According to this, Tufts, Amherst and Middlebury were all 1-1 against each other and tiebreaker No. 2 would not apply. Against the top four teams, Tufts would have the only win against the top three teams with a win over Williams College. Unofficially, that would mean that Tufts is the No. 4 seed in the NESCAC Tournament, and then Middlebury College would be the No. 5 seed thanks to their season win over Amherst. The Mammoths would then be the No. 6 seed.
The NESCAC will officially announce pairings following Sunday's Williams and Connecticut College game. For more information, follow along at gotuftsjumbos.com or X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram at the handle, @TuftsJumbos.
--JUMBOS--
