MEDFORD, MA (November 23, 2025) -- Trailing by 21 points with just over 10 minutes to play, the No. 4 Tufts University men's basketball team stormed back to force overtime, and dominated the extra period to post an 100-92 win over visiting Yeshiva University in a thriller inside Cousens Gymnasium Sunday.
The Jumbos have now won the last three contests after starting 0-2 on the season, but had to work hard to get the victory Sunday after digging themselves a large hole. The Maccabees (0-5) took a 21-point lead with 10:16 to play on a bucket by Zevi Samet to make the score 70-49, but a three-pointer by
Dylan Reilly started the comeback.
Tufts (3-2) would go on a 10-2 run over the next 90 seconds to pull to within 13 with 8:19 to go in regulation. After a pair of free throws by Yeshiva, Tufts went on another huge spurt, scoring the game's next 13 points to to make it 74-72 with five minutes to play.
Yeshiva would continue to hold onto the lead though until junior
Jon Medley hit a driving lay-up with the harm to deadlock the game at 85 with 22 seconds left. Medley would miss the free throw as both teams forced stops to send the game to an extra session.
In overtime, Tufts started the period on a 12-2 run highlighted by triples from Reilly and
Sidney Wooten to help the Jumbos pull away. The Jumbos were 4-of-5 overall in the extra session.
The Jumbos had six players in double figures on Sunday afternoon, led by the 23 points and six rebounds from
Scott Gyimesi. The senior forward was 10-for-16 in the win, and is now just three points shy of 1,000 for his career. He also tallied four assists.
Senior
James Morakis had 14 of his 16 points in the first half, going 6-of-9 from the floor, and Wooten came off the bench to finished with a career-high 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting including going 3-of-4 from downtown. Reilly tallied 10 points, and Medley stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six assists, six rebounds and a block.
Zion Watt also came off the bench to pour in 13 points, while first-year guard
Ricardo Nieves was a game-high plus-19 when on the floor while tallying nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Tufts bench scoring was a key to the win, outscoring YU in that category 37-13, while the Jumbos finished 34-of-63 (54.0 percent) from the field. Tufts was also 23-of-30 at the free throw line.
Yoav Oselka had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Maccabees, as he was 12-of-16 from the field while adding seven assists. Semet also had 22 points and seven caroms in the loss, as Yeshiva shot 53 percent for the game including a scorching 63 percent (17-27) in the first half to allow them to take the big lead.
Tufts will finish its busy schedule of six games in 11 days on Tuesday night on the road, traveling the short trip to Cambridge to battle MIT at 7 p.m. in Rockwell Cage.
--JUMBOS--
