The men's basketball team headed into conference competition this weekend, tied for first place in the NESCAC with a record of 10-5, to go along with a 1-0 conference mark. The Jumbos came home on Saturday, standing alone in seventh place in the conference, with a 10-7 record (1-2 NESCAC).
Tufts fell in heartbreaking fashion to Trinity (12-3, 3-1) on Friday, 87-88, after junior guard Brian Shapiro went down with an apparent twisted knee and was lost for the weekend. In the aftermath of the Trinity defeat, the Jumbos took on Amherst (13-4, 2-2) without Shapiro but could not find their rhythm, as the Lord Jeffs rolled to an easy 86-71 victory.
"Shapiro's kind of our nucleus; he does a lot for us," junior Kyle Van Natta said. "We practice a certain way all season, and we had to change everything when he came out of the game. We didn't really know who was going to take the shots."
Shapiro went down during the Trinity game, and was forced to sit for the second half. His injury came in a game won with 2.1 seconds to go, as Trinity senior center Bryan Dion tipped in a three-point attempt by senior Colin Tabb. The Jumbos had just gone ahead by one point with ten seconds to go, when senior Jim Wilson nailed a shot from downtown for three of his 22 points.
Without Shapiro or sophomore point guard Phil Barlow, who is out for the season with a broken foot, much of the scoring pressure fell on junior guard Mike McGlynn. McGlynn responded, scoring a team-high 24 points, including his 1000th of his career. Also in double figures was freshman center Craig Coupe, who added 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Tabb, last week's NESCAC player of the week led all scorers with 25 points despite shooting 4-20 from the field including 0-10 from downtown. Tabb's scoring came mostly at the foul line, as the senior was 17-17 from the charity stripe.
The loss came even amidst one of Tufts best shooting performances of the season. The Jumbos shot 57.4 percent from the floor including an impressive 10-19 from three-point range.
"The effort was definitely there," Van Natta said. "I think we all played our hearts out."
Though Shapiro's status was not certain following the loss to Trinity, the sharpshooter was experiencing pain Saturday morning and was unable to participate in the contest against Amherst.
It did not take Amherst long to capitalize on Shapiro's absence, as the Jeff's opened up the game with a 30-5 romp over the first 10:36. The Jeffs were 10-13 from the floor during the run, while the Jumbos committed 11 of their 16 first half turnovers.
"I think the first half was a combination of the heartbreaker at Trinity and not having Shapiro," Van Natta said. "We just didn't know who was going to take the shots."
Both teams seemed to settle down for the remainder of the half, though the Amherst lead remained around 25. The Jeffs shot 68 percent from the field in the first half, including an amazing 7-10 from three point range to enter the break with a 52-26 lead.
While Tufts was able to put forth a strong defensive effort and cut the lead to 15 with 8:01 remaining to play, it proved too little too late. The Jeffs went on an 8-0 run, upping the lead to 23, and would lead by no less than 19 for the rest of the game.
With Shapiro out, McGlynn once again assumed the bulk of the shooting duties, leading all scorers with 26. Joining McGlynn in double figures for Tufts were freshman Reggie Stovell and junior Colin Wetherill, each with 13. Wilson also contributed ten points coming off the bench.
An encouraging sign over the weekend, despite the losses, was the production from the bench. Wilson contributed 32 points over the course of the weekend, and Wetherill 17, both coming off of the bench. Stovell, who started on Saturday, also added 17 points on the weekend.
"The bench was definitely huge," Van Natta said. "There's so much scouting in the NESCAC that the bench is really important. Other teams focus on the starters and the stars, so they're not expecting that much from the bench."
Scouting may have been, in large part, the reason for Coupe's lower numbers on the weekend. Coupe entered the game averaging 12.9 points per game, as well as 8.9 rebounds. Against Trinity, Coupe managed 11 points and 6 rebounds, but against Amherst contributed only four points and four rebounds.
"Coupe's still a freshman and he's been scouted a lot," Van Natta said. "He was getting swarmed out there and it's just something he has to get accustomed to. I'm not worried about him."
Tufts will look to get back on track with a non-conference matchup against Keene State on Tuesday at home. The Jumbos' next conference competition comes next weekend during a trip to Maine, where the team will visit first-place Bowdoin and eighth-place Colby.
