MEDFORD, MA (January 17, 2026) -- The No. 12 Tufts University men's basketball team ran its win streak up to 15 games Saturday afternoon, fighting off a pesky Middlebury College team to earn a 75-62 win inside Cousens Gymnasium in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play on Alumni Day.
The 15-game winning streak is the longest in program history, while the victory was the fifth straight over Middlebury and seventh straight inside Cousens Gymnasium against the Panthers dating back to 2015. The 15-game win streak ranks as the fifth-longest in NCAA Division III men's hoops right now.
The Jumbos, who honored their first NCAA Tournament team from 1994-95 during halftime, had trouble shaking the Panthers though on Saturday. Middlebury scored seven of the game's first seven points and led by as many as nine points midway through the first half after a triple from Dominick Ducree with 9:27 to go in the first half.
Tufts would hit its stride from that point, rallying to tie the game with 7:43 to play in the first half after a pair of free throws by senior
Scott Gyimesi made it 24-24. The Jumbos took their first and surged ahead by nine points thanks to a 10-2 run, capped by a triple by junior
Zion Watt to lead 36-27 with 40 seconds left in the first half.
After trailing by seven at halftime, Middlebury pushed back to take a three-point lead with 9:37 to go after five quick points from Ducree to make it 49-46. Junior
Jon Medley answered with a big three-pointer off of two offensive rebounds, spurning a 10-2 run to put Tufts ahead 56-51 with 6:12 remaining.
Middlebury made it a one-possession game with just over five minutes remaining, but a 9-0 run by Tufts capped by a steal and dunk by first-year
Ricardo Nieves pushed the Jumbo advantage up to 12 at 65-53. The Jumbos' lead would never get down into single digits, as they held on for the home win.
Tufts saw its scoring balanced throughout the game, as Gyimesi finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, going 7-of-13 from the floor overall. Senior Joshia Bernstein also had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, going 7-of-8 at the free throw line in addition to his four assists, and Medley also tallied 11 points and four helpers.
Junior
Dylan Reilly had nine rebounds on three made three-pointers, and Nieves recorded nine points and three steals. Senior
Sidney Wooten also came off the bench to tally eight points.
Tufts shot 40.7 percent overall on Saturday, while going 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from three-point range.
Ducree tallied a game-high 20 points off the bench for the Panthers (6-9, 0-4 NESCAC).
The Jumbos will have the full week off before traveling to Connecticut College to take on the Camels Saturday, January 24 at 3 p.m. in New London, CT in NESCAC play.
--JUMBOS_-
