The men's basketball team headed into Cambridge with recent history on its side, having taken its last 10 meetings with neighboring rival MIT. But on Saturday the Engineers prevailed as senior Jimmy Bartolotta dropped 31 points to secure the top spot on MIT's all-time scoring list as the Jumbos fell 79-66. The loss dropped Tufts to 4-3 while MIT improves to 6-3.
"We missed some shots," junior co-captain Jon Pierce said. "I missed a lot that I usually make. Not to take any credit away from MIT -- they prevented a lot of things -- but we didn't get good looks. I got caught settling for some jump shots in the second half. Obviously, as the leading scorer and captain, when I don't make shots it's hard for the team. It's a lot on me."
Bartolotta hit a three-pointer with 3:20 left in the first half to spring past Campbell Lange's ('76) previous record of 1,699 points and become MIT's all-time scoring leader. Although he was only 6-for-12 from the field, he went 17-for-19 from the charity stripe while also pulling down 11 rebounds and notching three steals. It was the fourth time in his last five games that Bartolotta scored at least 30 points.
"He took 12 shots and made six of them," Pierce said. "He had 19 free throw attempts, which I thought was a little ridiculous. Some of the officiating was sketchy to say the least. There wasn't a whole lot we can do about it. [Senior co-captain] Aaron [Gallant] and [junior] Dave [Beyel] did what they were supposed to do, keeping him out of the flow of the offense. I thought we kept him from doing the things he wanted to do and he benefited from 10 trips to the line."
"I'm not really sure what it was," Gallant said. "I'll just say that he got to the line a lot and he made his free throws. That really helped them win."
Gallant led Tufts with a career-high 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc but claimed that his offensive numbers were meaningless in light of the loss.
"It means nothing," he said. "Absolutely nothing."
Pierce contributed 18 points of his own and grabbed 12 boards, but he was just 6-for-17 from the floor and a meager 1-for-8 from three-point range. Aside from Gallant and Pierce, the rest of the squad combined for an ugly 9-for-26 from the field.
"It's just tough to go into that gym and make shots," Pierce said. "It's not really a shooter's gym -- and I don't say that as an excuse. I was 1-for-8 from three after going 6-for-8 at home. When people are making those shots, it's kind of contagious. The more shots we missed, the more it seemed to pile up. They played good D, but we still had looks that we normally knock down."
Tufts was ahead 36-32 going into halftime, but MIT then routed the Jumbos 47-30 in the second half. In addition to Bartolotta, fellow seniors Billy Johnson and Bradley Gampel also posted strong performances for MIT, scoring 18 and 13 points, respectively. Johnson also pulled down eight boards while Gampel contributed eight assists.
"We didn't play that well in the first half," Pierce said. "They missed some shots and we made a couple more shots, but we didn't play that well either, so to be up by four was really a gift. In the second half, those shots that we'd made in the first stopped going in. They were really focusing on me down low, double- or triple-teaming. Any time someone drove they had guys stepping up and taking charges, and we didn't take care of the basketball. Combine all those things and it's easy to lose in an opponent's gym."
"I think it may have just been one of those nights," Gallant said. "I know they doubled us up sometimes and that took us out of our offense a little bit. I think it was just a bit of inexperience playing against a D like that."
MIT took the lead for good three minutes into the second half when Johnson stole the ball at half court and finished the fast break with a dunk. Freshman guard Jamie Karraker hit a deep three-pointer to put the Engineers ahead 55-50 with 10 minutes to go, and MIT then stretched its lead to double digits as Gampel and Bartolotta continued to reach the free throw line. Gallant put the Jumbos within six after making a jumper with 2:17 left, but the Engineers went 8-for-10 from the free throw line over the rest of the game to secure the victory.
The Jumbos will look to rebound from the loss when they hit the road tomorrow night to take on the University of New England. The Noreasters are also 4-3 on the year, including 1-1 against NESCAC competition.
"We expect them to be not very big but very tough and very quick," Gallant said. "They'll throw full-court press at us all game. It'll be a big test to see how we handle and take care of the ball. They're going to be in our faces all night."
"They're a small team," Pierce said. "There's nobody above 6-foot-4. It's going to be a hostile environment. We need to take care of the ball, pound it inside, and hopefully make the shots we missed today."
