WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (February 24, 2024) -- The Tufts University men's basketball squad battled hard with No. 4 Trinity College Saturday in the 2024 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament semifinals, but a late 12-2 run by the Bantams was the difference in an 80-68 loss for the Jumbos in action from Chandler Gymnasium on the campus of Williams College.
No. 2 seed Trinity College will now battle top-seed Williams College, which defeated Amherst College 57-43 in the first semifinal of the afternoon. The Jumbos (19-7) will await an at-large Pool C bid into the 2024 NCAA Tournament, as the field will be released on Monday, February 26 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com. Tufts was ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Regional Rankings as of last week's release, and looks like a strong candidate to be selected to the field.
As for Saturday's game, the Jumbos led early on in the game as a
Casey McLaren triple four minutes into the contest gave Tufts a five-point edge at 10-5. The two teams would give the lead back-and-forth seven times over a four-minute stretch before Trinity (25-1) took a six-point lead at 27-21 after a Jared Berry three-pointer with 8:56 to go in the opening half. Sophomore
Scott Gyimesi answered with a three-pointer of his own and the Jumbos rallied back to tie the game at 29 on a bucket from
Trumann Gettings.
The Bantams would close the first half though on an 11-4 run over the last four minutes to take a 43-35 edge into the break following a bucket from Dana Smith at the buzzer. Gyimesi led the Jumbos with 12 first-half points, while classmate
James Morakis tallied 10 points as well in the half. Tufts shot the ball very well in the period, going 14-24 (58.3 percent) from the field including making five of its nine (55.6 percent) shots from deep. Trinity's ability to shoot the three-pointer was a huge key in the first half, as Will Dorion and Henry Vetter combined for seven three-pointers and 25 points.
Early in the second half, Tufts battled back to trim the Bantam lead to one twice as sophomore
Joshua Bernstein posted a lay-up to make the score 48-47 with 14:45 to go in regulation. Tufts kept banging on the door but the Bantams continued to fend off every attempt of Tufts to grab the lead, as a three-pointer by
Bobby Stewart made the score 59-58 Trinity with 5:54 to go. The Bantams would score the game's next seven points to make it 66-58 with 3:30 to play, and free throws late in the game sealed the victory for Trinity. Tufts made just one field goal over a five-minute stretch late in the game which was the difference.
Morakis finished with a team-high 19 points for the Jumbos, making six of his 13 field goals while adding four boards, three assists and two steals. Gyimesi recorded another double-double, his 18th of the campaign with 18 points and 10 rebounds while making 8-of-13 from the field including going 2-of-3 from behind the three-point arc. McLaren was 3-of-6 on his three-point attempts for nine points, and Bernstein finished with five points, five blocks, four assists and six rebounds.
The Jumbos finished the game 26-of-60 offensively, making 43.3 percent from the floor for the contest. The Jumbos nailed eight three-pointers, and were 8-of-11 from the free throw line (72.7 percent).
Trinity got a game-high 26 points from Jarrel Okorougo, as he tallied 19 of those points in the second half while also adding 11 rebounds and three steals. Vetter finished with 19 points while Dorion tallied 17 points. Trinity leading scorer Ben Callahan-Gold scored just four points, but Trinity took advantage of Tufts' 15 turnovers as it held a 25-11 edge in points off turnovers. Trinity also posted a 22-9 edge in second-chance points including a 12-0 edge in the opening half.
The Bantams will now look to avenge their lone loss of the season on Sunday at noon in the NESCAC title game against the host Ephs in Chandler Gymnasium.
Check back to gotuftsjumbos.com on Monday with NCAA Tournament news for the Jumbos, and watch the NCAA Selection Show at 1 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com.
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