All night, the men's basketball team couldn't buy a basket. But after trailing at MIT the entire game and being down by as many as eight points in the second half, Tufts got two big buckets when it needed them and came away from Rockwell Cage with a 54-51 victory on Tuesday.
Senior forward Reggie Stovell scored off of an offensive rebound with 38 seconds remaining to put the Jumbos up for good 52-51, and junior Dan Martin, with a rebound and putback off of a missed free throw by sophomore guard David Sheperd, put the Jumbos up by three with twenty seconds left. The Engineers attempted a tying three pointer at the buzzer, but it was short and the Jumbos held off for the victory.
The game, and the paint, belonged to Stovell. On a night where no other Jumbo scored more than six points, the tri-captain went 5 of 10 from the field and scored a total of twenty points. He also led the team with 16 rebounds, giving him a double-double.
"Reggie was definitely important to our win," coach Bob Sheldon said. "He did a great job."
The team as a whole shot 16 of 57 from the field, only a 28 percent success rate. Was this a cause for concern?
"We took a lot of shots, and some went in and some didn't. I think it was a good showing that we only shot 28 percent and [still] managed to score 54 points," Sheldon continued. "Our defense really helped to win the game. We held them to 51 points, which was good."
MIT's paltry 51 is the lowest point total that the Jumbos have held their opponents to yet this year. Not only that, but MIT only attempted eight free throws for the entire game while Stovell alone converted nine freebies for Tufts.
The Jumbos had a good defensive showing, yet remained disciplined. They only committed 15 personal fouls, while MIT had 25. This season the Jumbos have consistently committed more fouls than their opponents, but on Tuesday they reversed the trend, shooting 18 of 31 from the charity stripe, while MIT made good on only three of its eight attempts.
Junior guard Mike D'Auria led the Engineers with 19 points and was seven of 13 from the field. Adam Gibbons, a senior guard for the Engineers, chipped in with 14. He was only two of eight from beyond the three-point arc, and another guard, MIT freshman Will Mroz, was only two of ten from three point range.
MIT didn't possess the size inside that Tufts did, so it was forced to remain in the backcourt and shoot long balls with its three guards. The Engineers went six of 25 shooting three pointers. Tufts also took its share of threes (four of 15) but relied more on Stovell and Martin dominating the paint.
Martin, the 6'9" junior center, contributed 10 boards and four points to the effort. His height was an important factor in securing the win, grabbing two important rebounds in the final minute.
The Jumbos outscored the Engineers 22-16 in the paint and out-rebounded them by a margin of 48-40. On the offensive boards, the margin was 23-14, giving the Jumbos far more second-chance points, which contributed to the advantage in paint points. This helped since the shots were not dropping consistently for Tufts on Tuesday night.
Senior tri-captain Drew Kaklamanos, scored four points on 1-11 shooting from the field.Sophomore forward Brian Kumf scored six points, as did freshman Jake Weitzen. A total of nine Jumbos contributed to the scoring, while only six did for MIT.
But what the Jumbos really had going for them was the emotion factor.
"At halftime, we were down eight," Sheldon said. "And we got emotions involved. This was the most important factor in the team's success."
Yet, even after its first victory in ten days, Sheldon is under no illusion that the team is at its best: "We need to make our shots," the coach said. "While we were able to overcome that, it's something we need to do better against Babson."
The Jumbos travel to Babson tonight hoping to improve on their 2-3 record.<$>
