The men's basketball team took care of business this weekend in the Nutmeg State, defeating Conn. College 63-56 on Friday night before walloping Wesleyan the following afternoon, 94-69.
A 3-0 week, which also included a win over Wheaton on Tuesday, pushed the Jumbos' NESCAC record above .500 to 3-2, and their overall mark to 12-6. Tufts also watched both Bates and Trinity lose over the weekend, solidifying the team's chances of a second-place finish in the conference, behind national heavyweight Amherst.
Winning conference games on the road has not been easy for the Jumbos in recent years. The last time Tufts swept a NESCAC weekend away from Medford was in January of 2005, when Tufts bested both Middlebury and Williams on their home courts.
This weekend, coach Bob Sheldon's squad was on top of its game, turning around from a 72-44 drubbing at the hands of Bates on Jan. 20.
"It feels really good," senior tri-captain Brian Kumf said of the sweep. "Our class has only done that once. It feels awesome - we're on a roll right now."
There was no mistaking who the better team was on Saturday in Middletown, Conn. The Jumbos came out on fire in the first half, shooting 57 percent from the field, including 7-of-12 from three-point range. Leading 16-8 with 14:32 remaining in the first half, Tufts went on a 14-0 run to blow the game wide open. That lead ballooned to 28 points with 5:37 left in the first half, before the Jumbos headed into halftime with a 52-28 advantage.
Led by 19 points from junior forward Jake Weitzen, Tufts boasted four players in double figures. The performance was a special one for Weitzen, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career, becoming just the 25th Jumbo ever to accomplish the feat.
"It is nice to get that accomplishment," Weitzen said. "Luckily I was able to come here and play freshman year. I've just tried to be consistent. We score a lot of points as a team, so it's not a big deal for someone to get to 1,000 points."
Weitzen's teammates appreciated his shooting efforts this weekend.
"You can't say enough about how good a scorer he is," Kumf said. "He hits big shots all the time for us."
On Friday night, Tufts was mired in a much closer battle with a Conn. College squad hungry for an upset. With just 3:50 left in the game, the Camels clung to a 56-54 lead, but a Kumf put-back off a Weitzen miss tied the game for the twelfth and final time. A minute later, sophomore forward Jon Pierce hit a go-ahead three to give the Jumbos a 59-56 advantage, a lead they would not relinquish.
Pierce led all scorers in the game with 17 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Weitzen pitched in with his fourth double-double of the season, pouring in 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
"I think we are starting to really mesh offensively," Weitzen said. "It's always tough to win two road games, so we're happy to get those."
The weekend wins were vital to Tufts in terms of its position in the NESCAC. After losing to the Jumbos on Friday, Conn College picked off Bates 82-65 on Saturday afternoon. Trinity was also an upset victim when the Bantams dropped a 75-69 contest at Bowdoin on Friday night.
Those outcomes enabled Tufts to break its tie with the Bobcats in the NESCAC standings and pull to within a half game of the second-place Bantams, alongside the Ephs.
The resurgent Tufts squad will need to continue its success on the road this weekend. After a non-conference game at Babson tonight, the Jumbos will endure yet another weekend of NESCAC competition away from Medford - against Middlebury on Friday night and Williams on Saturday afternoon.
Another sweep this weekend would all but assure Tufts a home game when the NESCAC Tournament begins on Feb. 17.
After the 3-0 week, the Jumbos are playing with confidence and are beginning to resemble last winter's historic squad that advanced all the way to the Div. III Sweet Sixteen.
"I think we're playing well," Kumf said. "I really feel like everyone is going on all cylinders."
