Jake Weitzen, men's basketball
The men's basketball team started off its season with a rocky couple of weeks, losing two of its first four. This past week, however, was the turning point for the Jumbos, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season to improve to 4-2.
Junior forward Jake Weitzen led the way for the resurgent Tufts squad last week. In the Jumbos' 77-61 win over Springfield on Tuesday, Weitzen was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor, finishing with 15 points and a team-high four rebounds. He followed that performance up with a double-double in the Jumbos' thrilling triple-overtime win at MIT, scoring 21 and pulling down 10 rebounds.
With the Jumbos trailing by as many as 10 points to MIT in regulation, it was Weitzen who led the team back, scoring at will on the exhausted Engineers' defense. With the Jumbos trailing 57-51 with six minutes to play, Weitzen scored the team's next 10 points, culminating in a game-tying three with 2:58 to play.
Weitzen's classmate Ryan O'Keefe then carried the Jumbos in overtime, draining a crucial three in the second overtime and then scoring seven points in the third extra session. Weitzen and O'Keefe finished the MIT game with 21 points apiece.
Jenna Gomez, women's basketball
In its first four games of the season, the women's basketball team relied on its two premier post players, senior co-captain Laura Jasinski and junior forward Khalilah Ummah, to carry the bulk of the team's rebounding responsibilities.
This past Tuesday, however, junior forward Jenna Gomez stepped up for the Jumbos, turning in a double-double in Tufts' 65-61 win over the Babson Beavers. Gomez's 13 rebounds were the highest single-game total for any Jumbo so far this season, and her six boards on the offensive end were a huge contribution for the Jumbo offense, which at one point racked up a 17-point lead in the second half.
Gomez broke into double figures in scoring for the first time this season Tuesday, scoring 10 points. After the Beavers came roaring back into the game in the final minutes, trailing by just one point with 20 seconds left, it was Gomez who iced the Jumbo lead. She sank two free throws in the final minute, widening the Tufts lead to 64-61, and senior guard Taryn Miller-Stevens drained the Jumbos' final shot from the charity stripe, finishing off the four-point Tufts win.
