AMHERST, MA (February 6, 2026) -- Host Amherst College used a 22-5 run through the middle of the second half to take a 14-point lead and a late rally by the No. 9 Tufts University men's basketball team fell just short as the Jumbos dropped a 65-62 decision at LeFrak Gymnasium in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play Friday.
Cold shooting was was did in the Jumbos Friday evening on the road, as Tufts made just 22.6 percent from behind the three-point line (7-31) despite shooting 15-of-28 on two-pointers for the game.
The early going was back-and-forth but a 10-0 run by Amherst midway through the first half gave the host Mammoths a 25-15 lead after a triple from Chris Hammond. Tufts chipped away at the Amherst advantage, using an 11-2 spurt over the final 4:30 of the first half to take a 32-31 lead into the locker room after a bucket by
Joshua Bernstein just before the break.
Senior
James Morakis has a team-high 10 points in the opening half for the Jumbos, while seniors
Scott Gyimesi and
Joshua Bernstein each had six points and five rebounds in the period.
In the second, Tufts scored the first three points of the stanza to take its biggest lead of the game at 35-31 after a free throw by junior
Zion Watt. Tufts led 38-37 but a field goal by Amherst's Marc Garraud started a 16-2 run that saw the Mammoths lead 53-40 with 9:47 to play after a triple from Garraud.
A three-point play from Garraud gave the Mammoths its biggest lead of the contest at 56-42, but a three-pointer from Gyimesi started a 10-0 stretch for Tufts capped by a
Jon Medley lay-up to make it 56-52 with a little over three minutes remaining.
Amherst pushed its edge back up to eight but Tufts got five straight points by Medley over a 41 second stretch to make it a 61-59 game with 48 seconds remaining. Amherst got a lay-up on its next possession to go up by four, but junior
Dylan Reilly nailed a three out of a timeout with nine seconds left to trim Amherst's lead down to one at 63-62.
Two free throws gave the Mammoths a 65-62 lead and a three-pointer by Medley at the buzzer just missed off the iron to give the hosts the win.
Gyimesi finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, adding two assists and two blocks while going 6-of-13 overall. Medley tallied 13 points, four rebounds and four helpers, and Morakis finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Bernstein tallied eight points and eight rebounds, while first-year
Ricardo Nieves came off the bench to tally five points and grab five rebounds.
Garraud came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points, leading four players for Amherst in double figures. First-year KJ Neville tallied 14 points and five rebounds, and Hammond and Drew Martin each had 10 points apiece.
Amherst (16-5, 5-2 NESCAC) shot the ball well from behind the arc, going 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from deep, and were a strong 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) at the line.
Tufts (17-4, 6-2 NESCAC) will look to get back in the win column on Saturday afternoon at Hamilton College, taking on the Continentals in Clinton, NY at 3 p.m. in NESCAC play.
--JUMBOS--
