Men bounce back, beat Brandeis

Battling back from Saturday's heartbreaking loss to Bates at the buzzer, the men's basketball team gutted out a 67-57 win over the visiting Brandeis Judges last night at Cousens Gymnasium. Led by senior co-captain Deyvehn East, the Jumbos held off Brandeis to earn their fifth win of the season.

"We didn't fold," coach Bob Sheldon said. "We just fought through it and in crunch time, we were more of a team than they were."

The Jumbos came out with victory on the mind against the 10-5 Judges. Revenge was also a factor as Tufts fell to Brandeis 72-70 last year on the road.

Tufts led through most of the first half, but never completely slammed the door on the Judges. Despite two crowd-pleasing ally-oops from East fed by junior guard Andrew Kaklamanos, Brandeis managed to stay within striking distance.

"It was the same as in the beginning of the year," Sheldon said. "We let down some and they had some nice three's."

Brandies tied the score at 30 with 1:04 left and then went ahead on a long three point shot from the right side with 20 seconds to go in the first half. Looking dazed and frustrated, the Jumbos retreated to the locker room at the intermission down 33-30.

After 15 minutes of rest and a motivational speech from senior co-captain Eric Mack, the Jumbos came out ready to win in the second half. Brandeis, however, had no intention of relinquishing its lead.

With a tight zone defense and full court press, the Judges kept Tufts away from the hoop. Brandeis scored four straight points to open the half taking a seven point lead and forcing the Jumbos to call a timeout.

With the clock stopped, Sheldon changed his game plan.

"I told them to get off the dribble and pass more," Sheldon said. "We wanted to get the ball inside more. That opened up [East's] game a lot."

The time out was all Tufts needed to rekindle its intensity. Though they trailed by five points, the Jumbos began to play like a team with a mission.

"We got going and [got] focused," East said. "We expected and needed this win."

Tufts out rebounded, out shot and, most importantly, outscored Brandeis in the second 20 minutes. East provided the needed momentum with 12 points and eight rebounds adding to his game totals of 23 points and eleven boards. Sophomore Dan Martin came up with ten points in the second half and brought down eight rebounds as well.

The true turn-around came with Tufts down by two, 39-37, and fifteen minutes remaining in the game. East passed the ball over the Brandeis defense to the leaping Martin. The airborne sophomore slammed the ball through the net with the third ally-oop of the game tying the score at 39.

"Sometimes we try to make energizing plays to get everyone a little more excited," East said.

The play woke the sleepy crowd and gave Tufts the necessary boost. The Judges sunk back on their heels and allowed the Jumbos to steal the ball and take the lead, 41-39, at the 13:40 mark. Tufts then went on a 17-4 run highlighted by East's two big three's and a sequence in which the co-captain came down with an offensive rebound, ran to the other end of the court for a defensive board, and then put in a lay-up.

Tufts' defense held firm allowing 24 points, but keeping the Judges from taking easy shots and driving to the basket.

The fast pace of the game played into Tufts' hands forcing the Judges to commit the fouls that padded the Jumbos' lead. With five converted foul shots serving as its last five points, Tufts ran out the clock, holding on to a 67-57 win.

"We have been working hard," Sheldon said. "We dug in and got the win. It was nice to be happy and proud."

The Jumbos moved to 5-11 on the season and will gear up this week in practice for a tough NESCAC weekend on the road at Amherst and Trinity.

"Going back into NESCAC, it's nice to go out of the league and get a win," Sheldon said.

The Jumbos will work on fine-tuning all they can in practice leading up to this Friday and Saturday's league match-ups.

"We'll go over our offense and make it a little smoother," East said. "We'll also run a little bit and get into better shape."