MEDFORD, MA (February 15, 2025) -- The No. 14 Tufts University men's basketball team fought back from a 10-point deficit with eight minutes to play, topping visiting Bates College in overtime 83-75 in the 2024-25 regular season finale in league action from Cousens Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (20-4, 8-2 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)) started the afternoon by honoring its five seniors, and finished it as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament where it will host No. 6 seed Williams February 22 at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
The victory was also the 100th in the coaching career of head coach
Brandon Linton, marking the fourth 20-win season as a head coach as well. It wasn't easy though, as Bates (10-14,1-9 NESCAC) pushed the Jumbos to the limit, leading for much of the contest.
Tufts led 10-5 early on a triple from
James Morakis but the Bobcats rallied back and took their first lead of the game at 18-16 on a lay-up by Babacar Pouye with 10:20 remaining in the first half. The Jumbos tied the game at 18 on a
Scott Gyimesi finish, but the Bobcats regained the lead for the remainder of the half taking a 35-32 edge into the break.
The first half was a struggle offensively for both squads, as Tufts shot just 30.3 percent (10-33) from the field, while Bates was slightly better at 36.1 percent (13-36).
In the second stanza, Bates answered every push by the Jumbos early on as Tufts evened the game at 44 after trailing by as many as nine on a jumper from
Quinn Cain with 13:58 remaining.
After a timeout by Bates, the Bobcats scored eight straight points and eventually took their largest lead at 12 points with 9:55 to play. Cain answered with a three-pointer which ignited a 11-1 run by the Jumbos to make it 58-56 with 6:39 remaining.
Bates would continue to lead until Morakis scored five straight points to push Tufts ahead 64-63 with just under three minutes to play. Morakis would end up scoring nine consecutive points for the Jumbos, including two free throws with 27 seconds to give the hosts a 68-66 lead.
After a timeout, Bates' Brady Coyne would get fouled and hit both free throws to tie the game and a three-pointer at the buzzer by
Dylan Reilly was just off the mark as the game went to overtime.
The Jumbos would dominate the overtime, scoring the first seven points of the period while holding Bates scoreless over the first 3:38 of the stanza to pull away for the win.
Morakis finished with a team-high 21 points, adding five rebounds and four assists, while Gyimesi tallied his 12th double-double of the year with 16 points and 13 boards.
Trumann Gettings got his first start of the season and made it count with a season-high 15 points, going 5-of-7 from the floor in a season-high 28 minutes.
Reilly tallied 13 points for the Jumbos and
Liam Kennelly was a spark plug all game with nine points, five steals and two assists. Cain also had eight points in his first career start.
Tufts shot just 39.7 percent (27-68) from the floor but was a solid 22-of-30 from the line (73.3 percent).
Pouye had 16 points and six rebounds as one of five scorers in double-digits Saturday for Bates, and Coyne had 15 points and six rebounds as well.
Cole Decker added 13 points and six boards, Elliott Cravitz tallied 12 points and six caroms, while Peter Psyhogeos tallied 10 points and a team-high nine boards. Bates nailed 11 three-pointers on the day, but connected on just 6-of-13 from the line (46.2 percent) and turned the ball over 15 times which led to a 20-5 deficit in points off turnovers.
--JUMBOS--
