MEDFORD, MA (December 31, 2025) -- Senior forward
Scott Gyimesi tipped in his own miss with 0.1 seconds remaining to lift the No. 21 Tufts University men's basketball team to a thrilling 79-77 win over visiting Clark University in non-conference play from Cousens Gymnasium Wednesday afternoon.
The final two points for Gyimesi gave him 22 for the game, while 20 of those came in the decisive second half. The Jumbos (10-2) also extended their win streak to 10 games heading into 2026, but it took an exciting rally over the final 90 seconds to get the win for the Jumbos.
Tufts trailed 77-72 with 1:40 to go after Boluwasefe John finished off of a rebound to put the Cougars (6-5) up by five, but senior
James Morakis came back with the next three points on a free throw and made jumper to make it 77-75 with 58 seconds to play. Tufts got a stop on the next possession after a timeout, and first-year
Ricardo Nieves got a breakaway lay-up to tie the game with 14 seconds to play.
Clark would get to the free throw line on its next possession with six seconds left, but John missed the first end of a one-and-one. Nieves grabbed the rebound and found junior
Dylan Reilly in transition, who passed to Gyimesi at the free throw line with three seconds left. Gyimesi's up-and-under was blocked, but his fall away tip-in with one tenth left on the clock kissed off the glass and in for the win. The officials went to the video replay to confirm the bucket, which was upheld for the victory for the hosts.
It was a fitting ending for a game that saw eight lead changes and 13 ties throughout the contest, as each team's largest lead of the game was six.
The game started out fast with Tufts taking an 11-7 lead less than four minutes into the game after a lay-up by
Joshua Bernstein, but the offenses went cold from that point as the Cougars came back to tie the game at 17 with 6:36 left in the first frame.
A 9-1 run by Clark made it a 26-20 lead for the Cougars after a John lay-up, but Tufts would come back to dead lock the game at 33 just before halftime on a
Sidney Wooten triple. Junior
Zion Watt led Tufts in points in the first half with seven.
In the second, the contest stayed a one-possession game for the first 10 minutes before Tufts pushed ahead by five at 58-53 following a triple from Gyimesi. The Jumbos continued to lead by five at 68-63 but seven straight points by Clark gave the Cougars a 70-68 edge after a Reid Neumann three-pointer with 4:26 remaining. Gyimesi hit a bucket with 4:08 to tie the game at 70, but Tufts fell back behind by five setting up the late rally.
Gyimesi finished with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, adding 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season and the fourth in his last five games. Bernstein made all six of his shot attempts for 14 points, posting four rebounds and a block before fouling out, and Morakis added 10 points off the bench. Morakis now sits at 990 points for his career.
Watt also was in foul trouble, but tallied nine points and sophomore
Robbie Nyamwaya came of the bench to have a strong game with nine points and five rebounds, adding two assists. Nieves had five assists along with his six points, and
Evan Reeves finished with five points and three rebounds.
Tufts shot 54.5 percent overall, despite making just 15.8 percent from three-point range (3-19). The Jumbos were also a strong 16-of-20 (80 percent) at the charity stripe, and tallied a big 48-38 edge in the paint.
John had 19 points and six rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting, while Aliaun Iscandari came off the bench to score 18 points. Neumann added 12 points as well, as the Cougars shot 50 percent (28-56) from the field and 45 percent (9-20) from deep.
The Jumbos will be off until Saturday, January 3, opening 2026 with a road tilt at WPI at 2 p.m. in Worcester, MA.
--JUMBOS--
