Jumbos go 1-1 over huge NESCAC weekend

The men's basketball team came out on the short side of a tough battle this past Saturday against the Trinity Bantams at Cousens Gym, 97-77. The loss came less than 24 hours after the Jumbos pulled off a huge upset over Amherst, ranked first in New England and eighth in the nation. The loss to Trinity moved the Jumbos to 9-9 overall on the season (3-2, NESCAC), dropping them to 5th in the conference.

"We may have been on too much of a high after the Amherst game," coach Bob Sheldon said after the loss to Trinity. "We came out strong, but we dug ourselves into a deep hole and couldn't get out of it."

Tufts came out hot against the Bantams on Saturday afternoon as senior guard Mike McGlynn scored four quick points in the first 20 seconds of the contest. The Jumbos flashed signs of brilliance from the previous night, looking like they were going to cruise to another victory. Tufts passed the ball smoothly throughout the first part of the first frame, and with 17:32 left, sophomore center Craig Coupe sent a pass to junior forward Deyvehn East who slammed it down with authority.

Things were going well for the Jumbos, and on the ensuing sequence, Coupe rejected a shot from Trinity forward Corey Days, ran the length of the court and was fouled as he went up for a lay-up. Though he missed both free throws, the Jumbos looked poised to rattle off their second NESCAC victory in under a day.

The Jumbos then got careless with the ball over the next four minutes, allowing the Bantams to climb back into the game and take the lead 19-12 with just over 13 minutes left in the first. After an offensive rebound and putback by sophomore forward Reggie Stovell, Sheldon quickly inserted senior co-captain Brian Shapiro into the lineup to try and spark the Jumbos offense.

On his first offensive possession Shapiro lined up from the right side of the hoop and nailed a three-pointer to bring Tufts within two. After stopping the Bantams on the defensive end, Shapiro came off a screen and sank his second three-pointer in as many attempts to give the Jumbos the lead once again with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.

But that lead would be Tufts' last of the contest, as Trinity freshman center Tyler Rhoten began dissecting the Jumbos defense. Rhoten and junior guard Shaun Smith went on a tear, scoring Trinity's next 15 points and giving the Bantams a 13 point lead with just five minutes remaining in the first. Shapiro nailed another three-ball as the first half wound down to cut the Bantams lead to 11, 54-43, going into halftime.

Rhoten led the Bantams with 26 at the half on 12-21 from the field, while McGlynn and Shapiro led Tufts with 11 apiece. Sheldon, who chose to play Rhoten one on one, did not change his defensive strategy in the second half despite Rhoten's success.

"He basically told us to help each other on defense and to protect the ball on offense, but that we were not going to double team him on defense," Coupe said.

In the second half, the Jumbos were never able to cut the lead to single digits. Tufts pulled within 10 points on two separate occasions twice early in the second half, but a disheartening 7-0 run by Trinity with 14:53 left quelled any chance for Tufts to mount a comeback.

"We came out flat today," McGlynn said. "They came in and took it to us on our home court. They killed us, it was embarrassing."

The Bantams lead reached as high as 22 with just under nine minutes to play as Rhoten continuously manhandled the Tufts defense. The Jumbos fought hard until the final buzzer, but the Bantams lead was too large to surmount.

"Even though the score says we won by 20, this was not an easy game by any means," Trinity's Rhoten said. "They have by far the best shooter in the NESCAC in McGlynn, and they have extremely dominant big men. Individually, Tufts may be the most talented team in the conference."

Rhoten finished with a career high 39 points for Trinity, adding 9 boards, two assists, and two steals, while McGlynn led Tufts with 26, including 10-10 from the free throw line.

"When you have really good players playing with you, it just makes things that much easier. I can only imagine how many assists the guys had tonight," Rhoten said.

The Bantams held Coupe, who averages 15 points and 11 boards a contest, to a meager four points and four rebounds in the game.

"We play an inside out style of basketball," Sheldon said. "But when our inside weapon isn't there, it throws everything off."

According to Coupe, the Jumbos were not as focused against Trinity as they were against Amherst.

"I've learned that you can't have a let down in NESCAC play, you have to bring it every game because it's so competitive," Coupe said. "We underestimated Trinity as a team, and we completely lacked the intensity we needed. I did not play my game today, but I'm not going to make excuses. I just need to work hard in practice and try to get back to the level of play that I'm used to."

On Friday night, the Jumbos took everyone by surprise and blew out the Lord Jeffs 83-66, who then were ranked first in New England and eight in the nation. Stovell had his best game of the season as he led four Jumbos in double figures with 20 points, while Coupe added 14 points, 15 boards, and three blocks. East added 14 points and four boards in the victory, and his solid defense and constant hustle throughout the game proved to be huge for Tufts.

The Jumbos, who led for the entire contest, shot 55 percent from the field to Amherst's 32 percent. Tufts allowed the Jeffs just 66 points in the game, their second lowest point total this season, holding them to a season low 25 points in the first half. Stovell put the icing on the cake with a huge slam dunk over Amherst preseason All-American forward Steve Zieja to close out the ballgame.

The Jumbos travel to Keene State to face the Owls tomorrow evening, and are back at home to face the Bowdoin Polar Bears and the Colby White Mules next weekend.

"At this point, all we can do is look to improve our caliber of play against our next opponents and play like we did against Amherst," Coupe said.