MEDFORD, MA (March 10, 2026) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team will travel to Middletown, CT this upcoming weekend for the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament Third Round, taking on host Wesleyan University at 4:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon in a battle of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foes. Tufts is coming off two home wins in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Penn State Harrisburg 65-60 before knocking off Catholic University 74-60 in the Second Round.
Tournament Details
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Game Page
Tufts University (22-5) at Wesleyan University (23-6)
Date: Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 4:20 PM
Location: Silloway Gymnasium - Middletown, Conn.
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Tufts vs. Wesleyan All-Time
The Jumbos and Cardinals series goes all the way back to 1906, when the Jumbos and Cardinals played to a 36-18 Wesleyan victory. Since then, these two schools have played one of the tightest, most competitive of all NESCAC series. Wesleyan currently holds a slight 48-43 all-time edge in the series of 91 games, with the Cardinals winning four of the last five meetings. Over the last 68 games, the teams are an even 34-34.
Back in January, Wesleyan knocked off Tufts 68-61 in Medford in a game that saw both teams hold large advantages before the Cardinals were able to pull away late thanks to strong free throw shooting.
Over the last 10 games dating back to 2016, there have been six games that have been decided by four or fewer points while the largest margin of victory during that span was an 82-70 overtime win by Tufts in 2024.
These two teams have never met in the NCAA Tournament before.
A Look At The Jumbos (22-5)
The Jumbos are fresh off two NCAA Tournament victories, making the NCAA Sweet 16 for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2024. Tufts is also in search of only its second Elite 8 appearance, which came back in 2016 when it defeated Johnson & Wales University in the Third Round before falling to Amherst College in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Tufts is in the midst of one of its best stretches of basketball in program history, as the Jumbos have won 20-plus games in four straight seasons for the first time ever in the program's 112 seasons of action. This senior class of
Joshua Bernstein,
Sidney Wooten,
Scott Gyimesi,
Theo Liu and
James Morakis is the all-time winningest class at Tufts as well with 85 total victories.
The Jumbos come into the weekend as one of the nation's best team defensive metrics coming into the weekend, ranking 13th overall in defensive efficiency on MasseyRatings.com, while ranking 3rd in the nation in blocks per game with 5.9. Tufts is also eighth in field goal percentage against at 38.6 percent, and have the 28th best scoring defense in the NCAA Division III.
Tufts also has done a great job of sharing the basketball and taking care of it as well, ranking 20th in Division III and first in the NESCAC with a 1.47 assist/turnover ratio. Tufts turns the ball over just over 10 times a game.
Individually, Tufts will lean on its All-NESCAC big men in
Scott Gyimesi and
Joshua Bernstein. Gyimesi is averaging 16.4 points and a NESCAC-high 9.8 rebounds in his 24 games of action this season, shooting a stellar 56.0 percent overall while adding a 41.2 percent clip from three-point land. He leads the NESCAC in double-doubles this year, and is 16th nationally in the category.
Bernstein has come on of late, and is coming off a big 24-point, 10-rebound double-double in a win over Catholic on Saturday. Bernstein has now started in all 27 games for the Jumbos, shooting a team-high 67.0 percent overall while tallying 11.1 points per game. He has also pulled in 8.9 rebounds as well per contest. He leads the league with 51 blocks.
Junior
Jon Medley had one of his best games of the season last Saturday against Catholic, as he scored 17 points to go with six assists and four rebounds. Medley is third on the squad with 10.8 points per game, and leads the team with 86 assists while his 3.9 assists per game is second in the league.
Juniors
Dylan Reilly and
Zion Watt have been the main three-point shooters for the Jumbos, making a combined 102 on the year. Both are shooting just around 36 percent on the season from three-point range. First-year
Ricardo Nieves has played in every game as a first-year, averaging 6.9 points including double figures in six of his last eight games.
Wooten and sophomore
Robbie Nyamwaya have also carved out solid roles for the Jumbos off the bench, and Morakis is adding 6.5 points off the bench in 27 games.
The Jumbos are shooting 46 percent overall as a squad, and have out-rebounded teams by almost eight boards per game this season. Head coach
Brandon Linton has posted a very strong 98-37 record in charge of the Jumbos in his five seasons
A Look at the Cardinals (23-6)
Wesleyan will be playing its ninth home game in a row this upcoming weekend, going 7-1 in that stretch with the lone loss coming to Trinity College in the NESCAC title game two Sundays ago.
Wesleyan comes into the weekend as one of the most efficient and steady teams in the nation, as they rank in the top 20 in free throw percentage, rebounding margin, rebounds per game and field goal percentage defense.
The Cardinals also average only 13.9 personal fouls per game, which is the lowest mark in the NESCAC and 23rd nationally. Wesleyan ranks fourth in the NESCAC in team field goal percentage, making 44.0 percent overall while shooting 33.5 percent from three-point range.
Wesleyan's done a great job of taking care of the ball, ranking No. 2 in the NESCAC in assist/turnover ratio with a 1.46 clip. The Cardinals are second in assists per game with 15.93 this season.
Wesleyan has a pair of All-NESCAC First Team guards in Sam Pohlman and Zach Wolinski. Pohlman ranks fifth nationally and first in the NESCAC in total assists with 186 this season, as his 6.4 helpers per games are seventh in NCAA Division III.
Wolinski is third in the NESCAC in scoring with 18.2 points per game, making the most free throws in the conference this season. Wolinski is shooting 85.5 percent at the charity stripe, and his 167 field goals ranks fourth in the league.
Ben Lyttle is fifth on the team in scoring with 8.6 points per game, but he leads the team with 7.7 rebounds a contest. Oscar Edelman and Fritz Hauser are both stretch forwards that shoot the ball well from behind the arc, while Jackson Cormier comes off the bench to bring energy and strong defense.
Jaalan Watson also has played in all 29 games off the bench, shooting 45.5 percent from three-point land as a strong reserve. Wesleyan reached the NCAA Third Round after wins over Lehman (76-66) and NYU (84-69) last weekend.
The appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 is the second consecutive and second ever for the Cardinals. Wesleyan lost in the NCAA Final Four last year to eventual champion Trinity College 73-69.
Head coach Joe Reilly is in his 28th season as a head coach, boasting 441 wins in his career while going 287-158 all-time at Wesleyan over 17 seasons.
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Up Next
The winner of Saturday's game will take on the winner of Trinity and Hood College in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 19, 2026 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The NCAA Division III Final Four will be Saturday, March 21. The format is different this season, as this weekend features just one stand-alone game with the quarterfinals and semifinals in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Division III title game will be Sunday, April 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Other Sweet 16 Games
March 13:
Yeshiva at No. 2 Emory - 1:00 PM
No. 15 Christopher Newport at No. 4 Randolph-Macon - 7:00 PM
No. 11 Endicott at No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan - 7:30 PM
No. 20 WashU at No. 3 St. Thomas (TX) - 8:00 PM
March 14:
No. 16 Hood at No. 1 Trinity - 4:00 PM
No. 14 UW-La Crosse at No. 5 Mary Washington - 4:40 PM
No. 7 Gustavus Adolphus at No. 6 Univ. of Chicago - 5:00 PM
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