BRUNSWICK, ME (February 3, 2024) -- The Tufts University men's basketball squad held host Bowdoin College to 29.2 percent shooting, while senior
Jay Dieterle posted a season-high 19 points to lead the Jumbos to a 77-52 win in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play from Morrell Gymnasium Saturday.
Dieterle was hot all afternoon long, as he opened the game scoring 12 points in the first half on 4-of-4 shooting from behind the three-point arc. He added seven more points in second half, while sophomore
Scott Gyimesi tallied all of his 16 points in the closing 20 minutes to lead Tufts to the win.
The Polar Bears (7-15, 1-7 NESCAC) gave the Jumbos a fight in the first half, as Bowdoin took a two-point lead at 20-18 following a three-pointer by Michael Simonds with 2:33 to go in the opening stanza. Dieterle answered right back with a three-pointer of his own, followed immediately by a triple from junior guard
Khai Champion to give Tufts a four-point edge at 24-20. Champion and Dieterle finished the first frame with triples as Tufts led 30-25 going to the second half.
The Jumbos shot 39.3 percent in the first half, but were powered by 7-of-13 shooting (53.8 percent) from behind the three-point arc to fuel the lead. The offensive firepower would come alive in the second half, as Tufts dominated inside making 18-of-31 in the period to score 47 in the second.
Bowdoin hung around early in the second as Alex Halpern hit a three-pointer to make it a 38-33 Tufts' lead with 14:46 to go in regulation. Tufts went on a subsequent 14-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 19 points, capped by a triple from Champion with 11:10 to go in the second half.
The Jumbos continued to add on to their lead, leading by as many as 26 points late on a pair of free throws by junior
Jackson Patton with under a minute to go, rolling to the win. The 25-point NESCAC victory was its largest in conference play since an 88-58 win at Trinity College on February 7, 2020.
Dieterle was 6-of-10 overall and 4-of-5 from three-point land on the night, adding three assists and four rebounds, while Gyimesi tallied his third straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Gyimesi now has 15 double-doubles on the season, fifth-most in Division III and the most in the conference. He also shot 8-of-11 from the floor.
Champion needed just 19 minutes to get to 16 points, drilling four three-pointers on the night, and sophomore
Joshua Bernstein scored nine points, grabbed nine caroms and blocked three shots in a strong all-around game. Tufts shot 49.2 percent (29-59) for the game on Saturday, while its 42.9 percent (9-21) from three-point range was a season-high. Tufts also turned the ball over just nine times all game, and dominated in paint points to the tune of 30-10.
Simonds finished with a game-high 27 points for the Polar Bears, and Adamdi Achufusi and Kevin Reeves each posted seven points as well in the loss.
Tufts (17-5, 4-4 NESCAC) will now come home for the final two home games of the season next weekend, staring the home stretch against Wesleyan University Friday, February 9 at 7 p.m. inside Cousens Gymnasium.
--JUMBOS--
