WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (January 17, 2025) -- The No. 9 Tufts University men's basketball team used a 37-5 run over the middle part of the contest Friday night to topple host Williams College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play from Chandler Gymnasium.
The win was the fifth straight for the Jumbos (15-2, 3-0 NESCAC), while staying unbeaten in the conference through three games. Tufts has also now won four straight against Williams (10-5, 1-2 NESCAC), its longest win streak against the Ephs in program history.
The decisive run in action came after Williams made the score 22-12 with 8:57 to go in the first half after a three-pointer by Declan Porter. The Jumbos finished the first half with a blitzkrieg, going on a 22-2 run over the final eight minutes as Tufts was 8-of-10 overall during the stretch while getting seven points from
James Morakis during the spurt.
On the other hand, Williams was 1-of-9 during that span as Brandon Roughley's jumper with 7:06 to go in the first half were their final points of the half. After that bucket from Roughley, Tufts finished the frame with 17 unanswered points to make it a 34-24 game at the break.
The run would continue into the second half for the Jumbos, as they held the Ephs without a field goal for the first 8:24 of the half before Roughley made another lay-up to make it 49-29 in favor of Tufts. To that point, Williams had missed 15 straight attempts from the floor and cashed in just three free throws.
The Ephs though wouldn't roll over as they pulled to within nine with 2:07 to go in regulation, but Morakis and
Scott Gyimesi would seal the win at the line with a pair of free throw makes apiece.
Despite the win, Tufts only shot 20-of-50 (40 percent) overall, while going 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from behind the arc. Gyimesi had a team-high 14 points, adding seven rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting. Morakis tallied 13 points, six rebounds and two helpers, and sophomore
Dylan Reilly nailed three triples on the way to 11 points.
Junior
Joshua Bernstein had seven points and five rebounds while dealing with foul trouble, and
Jon Medley tallied six points, six boards, four assists, two steals and two blocks in the win. Tufts posted an 11-2 edge in points off turnover while winning the rebounding battle, 40-27.
Williams was led by the 10 points from Roughley, as the Ephs shot 30.8 percent from the floor (16-52) overall. It was second-lowest field goal percentage against for the Jumbos this year, topped only by the 27.4 percent by Clark University on December 29. Porter also finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep for the Ephs.
Tufts will continue its road trip Saturday afternoon in Vermont, as the Jumbos take on Middlebury College at 3 p.m. in Pepin Gymnasium in more NESCAC play.
--JUMBOS--
