The only thing standing between the men's basketball team and an Elite Eight berth was the luckiest shot of Andrew Olson's life.
With a three-point lead and seconds remaining in Saturday's Sweet 16, the Jumbos thought they had pulled off a stunning upset of top-seeded Amherst. Instead, the sophomore guard hit an improbable, off-balanced three-pointer at the buzzer to steal the victory away from the Jumbos and send the game to overtime, which Amherst dominated to end Tufts' magical season with a 90-85 victory.
"It was a great game," senior tri-captain Dan Martin said. "It was back and forth. We showed we could hang with the big dogs again, the No. 4 team in the nation, and we really stuck it to them. If it wasn't for that [expletive] shot, we would be going to the next round. I guess the basketball gods were against us."
After losing to Amherst twice earlier in the season, the Jumbos finally thought they had the upper-hand in this one. In a game in which neither team led by more than five points in the second half, Tufts had the game in its hands with a three-point lead and Martin on the line with just 26 seconds remaining.
Martin split the pair of free throws, and after an uncontested lay-up by Olson, sophomore Jake Weitzen also converted only one at the line, making it only a one-possession game and opening the door for Amherst.
The Jumbos appeared to have the game sealed, as Olson, guarded tightly by junior tri-captain Dave Shepherd, dribbled the ball around the perimeter frantically looking for a chance to keep his team's season alive. With just four seconds remaining, he faked a shot, dribbled to the top of the key, left his feet, looking for contact from Shepherd, and launched an off-balance shot that found nothing but net.
"That shot is just a ridiculous shot," coach Bob Sheldon said. "He probably makes that one time out of 50. I've got to give him credit, though. He did make it, so they're going on and we're going home. It's going to be a tough one to put aside."
After the stunning shot, the Jumbos still had a chance to put away the Jeffs in overtime. Tufts gained a two-point lead but quickly fell behind, 85-79. After Weitzen split a pair at the line, the Jumbos found themselves trailing 85-80 with two minutes left, and in desperate need of a spark.
They had a chance to create one when Olson, trying to beat the press, fired a pass right into the hands of Martin at halfcourt. Martin handed off the ball to Shepherd, the team's clutch performer all season, who missed a three-pointer. After both teams battled for the board, sophomore Jeremy Black dove to the floor to collect the rebound, giving his team a glimpse of hope with 54 seconds left.
After a timeout, Weitzen faked his defender into the air, and then fired a three, trying to initiate contact. The ball hit off the front of the rim, but Black nabbed another huge offensive rebound. Shepherd missed another three and this time the rebound went to the Jeffs.
After Amherst iced the game with a 90-82 lead, Weitzen walked slowly to halfcourt and fired up the last shot of the season. The half-court shot found the net, but it was too little too late, and the winningest season in Tufts basketball history came to an end.
"[The school-record 23 wins] means a lot to us," junior Brian Kumf said. "We're proud of that, but right now this hurts. We went from the greatest feeling in the world - thinking we were going to win the game, thinking we were going to stop [Olson], then going to the Elite Eight, and maybe the Final Four - to probably the worst feeling in the world. He hit a hell of a shot."
And had Olson's shot fallen short and the Jumbos had gone onto the next round, Kumf would have deserved a lot of the credit. On a night when Martin, the team's leading scorer, found himself suffocated down low by Amherst double-teams, Kumf sparked the Jumbos all night. He played 40 minutes, scored a career-high 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds, hit all five of his free throws, and turned the ball over only once.
"He got every rebound to start with and then he finished [all of his shots]," Shepherd said. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have even been there."
Kumf stepped up big into the offensive hole left by a struggling Martin. After scoring 41 points combined in the previous two games this season against the Jeffs, Martin scored only 11 points this time around. The Jeffs held the big man to 3-15 shooting with stifling double-teams and held him scoreless from the floor for the first 18 minutes of the game.
Shooting just 36.5 percent from the floor, the Jumbos stayed in the game by playing tough defense and out-rebounding the Jeffs 52-37, including 20 offensive rebounds. Martin led the way in rebounding with 11.
The game ended the Jumbos' longest tournament run in school history. Sheldon hopes this brief experience with tournament success will be a springboard for next season.
"We got a taste of this and I think they liked it," Sheldon said. "We may become addicted."
