Tufts Out-Guns Williams 101-89 in Men's Basketball Quarterfinals
Courtesy Tufts Sports Information
MEDFORD, Mass. – The Tufts University men’s basketball team reached the 20-win plateau with a 101-89 victory over Williams College in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Tournament on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,500 fans at Cousens Gymnasium.
The third seeded Jumbos (20-5) advance to the conference semi-finals next Saturday at Amherst where they will play second seed Trinity College, an 84-81 winner over Colby in the first round. Tufts defeated the Bantams 84-80 in overtime when the teams met during the regular-season.
Against Williams, Tufts topped 100 points for just the second time this season and had three players finish with 20 points or more. Sophomore Jake Weitzen (New York, NY) scored 21 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Juniors David Shepherd (Grantham, NH) and Brian Kumf (Milford, MA) both scored a season-high 20 points for the Jumbos.
However, the victory did not come easily against the sixth-seeded Ephs. Tufts only trailed in the first three minutes of the game, and they built 12-point leads twice in the first half. But the score at halftime was just 47-42 Jumbos, and that was after Shepherd darted through the Eph defense for a lay-up at the buzzer. Senior tri-captain Dan Martin (Sandwich, MA) scored 11 points and Weitzen scored 10 in the first half for Tufts. Sophomore Chris Rose (Middletown, NY) and junior Brian Nelson (Holden, MA) each had nine points for Williams at the break.
A three-point play by Rose to start the second half closed the margin to two points, 47-45. That was as close as Williams would get, but the visitors were within single-digits for the majority of the second half. The Tufts lead was just five points, 74-69, at 8:04 when the Jumbos opened their advantage with a 10-0 run spurred by Kumf and Shepherd. A Kumf dunk and three-point play started it, then Shepherd’s lay-up and three-point play finished it.
Even with that spurt, Tufts could not completely put Williams away. Firing up threes at a rapid rate (they took 37 in the game), the Ephs had it down to seven points, 88-81, on a three by Rose at 1:34. Two free throws by senior tri-captain Casey Gibbons (Weston, MA) made it 89-83 with 53 seconds on the clock, and they still had faint hope with 26 seconds left after a three-pointer by sophomore guard Chris Shalvoy (Rochester, NY) put the score at 95-89. Shepherd was money at the line down the stretch though, making 8 of 8 free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
Tufts shot 50.8 percent (31/61) and put five players in double figures overall. Martin finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Shepherd and Kumf both added seven rebounds to their games. Shepherd (10 of 11 at the line) also had five assists. Weitzen finished 7 of 9 from the floor.
