MEDFORD, MA (February 21, 2025) -- The No. 13 Tufts University men's basketball team get its postseason going Saturday afternoon inside Cousens Gymnasium at 2 p.m., welcoming Williams College to town for the 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) quarterfinals. The Jumbos are coming into Saturday's game winners in their last three games, while finishing the regular season 20-4 and 8-2 in the league. The 20-win regular season is the first in program history, while the back-to-back-back 20-win seasons is the first time ever at Tufts.
Game Details
Championship Website
vs. No. 6 seed Williams College (15-9, 4-6 NESCAC)
Date: Saturday, February 22, 2025
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Medford, Massachusetts -
Cousens Gym
Live Coverage:
Live Stats -
Live Video
Tufts vs. Williams All-Time
The Jumbos and Ephs have a long and extensive all-time series as the squads have met 73 times since 1906, their first meeting. Williams holds a 42-31 edge in the all-time series, though the Jumbos have won the last four meetings including a 59-46 win at Williams earlier in the season.
Scott Gyimesi had 14 points and seven rebounds in the contest. The two teams have met in the NESCAC Tournament seven times prior to Saturday's meeting, with the Ephs holding a 5-2 edge in the postseason contests. The last time these squads met in the NESCAC Tournament was in 2017, a 81-65 victory for Williams in Medford.
A Look at the Jumbos (20-4, 8-2 NESCAC)
The Jumbos come into the weekend as the No. 3 in the NESCAC Tournament, and will look to get back to the NESCAC semifinals for the third straight season. Tufts comes into the weekend as one of the most efficient teams in the nation, ranking No. 5 in the country in team efficiency rating by D3 Datacast. Tufts is No.11 in the country in adjusted offense, while its adjusted defense mark of 86.7 ranks sixth nationally. The Jumbos are also ninth nationally in the latest NPI rankings, the rankings used to choose the NCAA Tournament field.
Tufts comes into the game on Saturday as the top shooting team in the NESCAC as its field goal percentage of 47.7 percent on the season is also 20th nationally. Tufts is third in the league in scoring with 77.9 points per game, while it's scoring margin of plus-13 is third in the NESCA as well. The Jumbos are the league's top defensive rebounding team with just under 30 per game, while its rebounding margin of 8.9 is second in the NESCAC.
Junior
Scott Gyimesi is 15th in the country and first in the NESCAC in double-doubles this season with 12, as he ranks sixth in scoring in the league with 15.8 points per game while also pulling in 9.7 boards a contest, second-most in the NESCAC. Junior
James Morakis is third in scoring in the league with 17.3 points per game, and classmate
Joshua Bernstein leads the NESCAC in shooting percentage at .658 followed closely by Gyimesi at .619.
Sophomore Dyland Reilly is fourth in the NESCAC in three-point shooting, making 38.4 percent from deep, while his 61 made triples are also the fourth-most. Sophomore
Jon Medley is second in the NESCAC with 90 assists, and his assist/turnover ratio ranks first in the league and eighth in the country.
The Jumbos are looking to extend their home winning streak against conference foes to six dating back to last year's NESCAC Quarterfinals.
Tufts is in search of its second all-time NESCAC title, and first since 2020.
A Look At The Ephs (15-9, 4-6 NESCAC)
Williams comes to town on a two-game losing skid, having dropped both games last weekend to Hamilton College and Amherst College. Prior to that though, Williams had won four straight games and five of six with the lone loss coming at home to Middlebury.
The Ephs are one of the best defensive teams in the nation, as Williams allows teams to shoot just 38.7 percent overall which is eight in Division III. Williams also allows just 27.3 percent against on three-pointers, first in the NESCAC and fourth overall in the country. The Ephs are eighth in the NESCAC in scoring output at 67.2 percent, while its 61.5 points against per game is third in the league.
Williams is the top three-point shooting team in the NESCAC as well by percentage, making 35.1 percent on the season through the 176 made triples is the 10th most in the NESCAC ahead of just Tufts and its 167. On the glass, Williams is last in the league on the offensive glass with under seven rebounds per game, and its combined rebounding is 10th in the conference.
Alex Lee and Hudson Hansen are the top scoring threats for the Ephs, as Lee has posted 12.8 points per game while Hansen is right behind his teammate at 15th in the league with 11.9 points per game. Hansen is also the leading rebounder for Williams with 5.4 per game, while Brandon Roughley also adds 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. Aidan Yates also pours in 9.4 points with a team-high 44 three-pointers.
Williams has five NESCAC title all-time, second-most in the NESCAC behind just the eight from Amherst.
Other NESCAC Tournament Games Saturday
No. 8 Amherst at No. 1 Wesleyan - 2:00 p.m.
No. 7 Colby at No. 2 Trinity - 4:30 p.m.
No. 5 Conn. College at No. 4 Hamilton - 2:00 p.m.
--JUMBOS--
