The men's basketball team has finally reached the end of a painfully frustrating season. Falling to the bottom of the NESCAC and missing the postseason for the third year in a row, the squad finished at 2−7 in the conference and just 6−17 overall. The talent and teamwork were there but always seemed to fail when it mattered most.
Preseason started with high hopes, as the Jumbos had lost only one impact player to graduation, while their two top scorers, seniors forward Dave Beyel and tri−captain forward Jon Pierce, were returning with another year under their belt. Additionally, junior point guard Matt Galvin had recovered from an injury that had confined him to the bench and rattled the team the season before.
But any positive outcome that could have resulted from this year's season vanished in one weekend. In a two−game span that would prove to be devastating not only to Tufts' playoff hopes, but also to the team morale, the Jumbos suffered two losses in ways that would break the heart of any athlete. Against Wesleyan, the team stretched it to four overtimes but couldn't make it count down the final stretch, succumbing to the Cardinals — and exhaustion — 98−93.
Their hearts and bodies would have no time to recover as they met the Conn. College Camels the next day fatigued emotionally and physically. Despite a 40−28 halftime lead and 35 points from Pierce — who would win NESCAC Co−Player of the Week honors for his 77−point weekend — a defensive breakdown in the final minutes allowed a 12−2 Camel run to cut Tufts' lead to one. In the final minute, the teams traded the lead until a buzzer−beating three gave Conn. College the win 83−81.
"There really wasn't anything we could've done at the end of four overtimes," Beyel said. "With a freshman hitting a ridiculous shot at the buzzer … there was just nothing else we could do. We came home thinking it couldn't get any worse, because after beating Bowdoin … we knew we needed to buckle down and get at least two wins from there on out to make it into the tournament, and we didn't do that."
A visit from UMass Dartmouth proved things could get worse for the Jumbos after their disastrous weekend versus Conn. College and Wesleyan. The Corsairs overcame an eight−point deficit in the final six minutes to win 67−66, after a hotly contested call deemed Beyel's potential game−winner too late. Despite the melancholy on the team members' faces, it was a proud moment for Pierce's coaches and family. On a free throw at 6:34 in the second half, Pierce became Tufts' all−time leading scorer with 1,786 points. Now, at the end of his career, his total is 1,855 after a 421−point season.
"It was definitely a big moment with coach [Bob] Sheldon stopping the game and getting the hugs on the court from my teammates," Pierce said. "But what kept us going more so was the fact that over the course of my four years, despite our win−loss record or other things we've gone through, we always tried to fight to the end, and I'm glad that that happened this season, too … We felt that if we kept putting ourselves in a position to win, as we had against Wesleyan, Conn. and UMass, we would eventually pull one out."
The playoffs had not seemed probable when the season began, and Tufts struggled in non−conference play. It seemed that the Jumbos would once again experience some troubles. The team dropped its first four contests, with two being decided in the final minutes — an occurrence that would become routine for the Jumbos.
"The thoughts going into any season [are] hopeful and excited," Pierce said. "We had six seniors coming back, so we were certainly hopeful ... but as it turns out, our biggest problem was offense this year. We tried to stay positive as much as possible, but as it wound down, it was tough."
However, the Jumbos did manage to regroup a bit after the tough start. In the next four days, they got their first two wins — taking the contests by an average margin of 16.5 points — and, for a brief period, their spirits lifted as they resolved to salvage the first half of their season.
"We took the positive things from the wins," Pierce said. "Play solid defense and efficient offense. Not high scoring, but good shots. The story of the season, however, became that … we would be dominant offensively but not be stopping anything, or holding them to 50 but only scoring 45. We wanted to be consistent on both sides of the ball but unfortunately weren't able to string that together for the rest of the year."
Tufts would have to wait a month for another win, as it dropped its final two contests of the fall semester, including a game against Plymouth State in which the team squandered a four−point lead with 20 seconds remaining.
Still, while Tufts had gotten off to an inauspicious start, it had yet to play any NESCAC games, leaving plenty of time to improve — especially over the winter break.
"It was nice to step back and get out of that busyness of five games in eight days and relax a little bit," Beyel said. "We were optimistic. No one was down, just excited for all the league games to play. Everyone came back in shape ready to play."
But apparently the cohesiveness was not there, as the Jumbos returned to the Hill only to lose six of their next seven. Nonetheless, the team showed remarkable resilience as it prepared to face Bowdoin on Jan. 23, hungry for its first NESCAC win. The Jumbos would get just that at the end of a tight, low−scoring battle in which the lead was traded eight times before Tufts emerged victorious at 58−53.
Tufts kept it up against Wheaton, earning its second straight win as big performances from freshmen guard Alex Goldfarb and forward Scott Anderson established their place as starters for the Jumbos. The team's energy was high, but it was deflated by the losses to Conn. College and Wesleyan.
The highlight of the season, from a team standpoint, came in the team's last home game. After a five−point loss to Trinity, the Jumbos faced off with Amherst on Senior Day at Cousens. Winless against the Lord Jeffs since 2003, the Jumbos came out poised for a fight.
The teams traded the lead 10 times, but as the game drew to a close, the Jumbos found themselves up one in the final minute. The Jeffs had a chance to tie, but Pierce came through with a clutch block, and Tufts rode out the clock until the buzzer made the 69−68 win official.
"I guess that game went as well as it could have," Beyel said of the team's biggest win of the season. "We played as well as we could have, and I guess it was just a great way to finish our home career against a good team we've lost to since my freshman year. It was a good way to go out at home."
If only the story of this season could have ended there — with the team cheering in victory — it would not have been over for Tufts. But Wesleyan would go on to beat Bowdoin in overtime and bump the Jumbos out of postseason contention, while Bates would end the Jumbos' season by downing them 64−55 the next day.
The team will say goodbye to some huge offensive threats at graduation in program−leader Pierce, along with Beyel and senior tri−captain guard Dan Cook. Beyel finished his final season as the fifth−leading scorer and free−throw shooter in the NESCAC this season, while Cook finished as a top−10 three−point shooter in the conference. Defensive specialist and tri−captain Tom Selby will also be missed, along with guard Reed Morgan and forward Bryan Lowry.
While the team has had its struggles over the past few seasons, it has some prospects for the future. Anderson finished the season with over 200 points, Galvin and Goldfarb will be returning as the Jumbos' most skilled ball handlers, and key contributors junior forward Sam Mason and sophomore forward James Long will continue to improve — not to mention a strong 2014 recruiting class.
"I'm excited for them next season," Pierce said. "I think they're going to have an opportunity to be a lot better than we were this year. They're going to be a lot more balanced with a lot of guys stepping up and scoring … I think it's going to be a great group of young guys, and they're going to develop into a great team."
All in all, the rollercoaster of emotions that defined this basketball season is over, and the returning players can begin to focus on what will surely define so many games next year: revenge.
