Tufts wins at Williams ahead of playoff rematch

Men's basketball ended its regular season run with a 77-73 win over Williams on Friday night, coming out with a 7-3 conference record and securing the third seed and a first-round home game going into the NESCAC tournament. The game was close throughout, with the Jumbos capitalizing on enough of the Ephs’ mistakes to end up on top.

Normally a very strong shooting team, Tufts shot only 40.3 percent from the field compared to Williams 42.1 percent. Both teams relied on strong individual showings, as Tufts looked to two of its tri-captains—senior guard Stephen Haladyna and junior center Tom Palleschi—who put up 22 and 17 points, respectively. Not to be outdone, Williams junior guard Daniel Aronowitz put up 22 points on the night as well.

“Obviously we had a lot on the line,” senior tri-captain guard Ryan Spadaford said. “I think all the guys knew that. It was nice to get a win on the road; that’s a tough gym to play at. We didn’t really hit many shots, but we played good defense down the stretch.”

The Jumbos also lost the rebounding game, as the Ephs pulled down 44 rebounds to the Jumbos’ 37. The disparity was most evident in the first-half, in which Williams took a 24-16 advantage in rebounds.

With the Ephs owning the boards in the first half, the Jumbos offense struggled and played from behind for most of the half. But Haladyna stayed hot for Tufts, putting up 13 first half points to lead all scorers and give his team a narrow 36-35 lead going into the intermission. 

Where the Jumbos engineered their advantage throughout the contest was in the turnover game. Tufts played a very clean game, handing the ball over just four times. The Ephs, on the other hand, gave the Jumbos the ball with surprising frequency, turning it over 15 times, which the Jumbos capitalized on for 15 points from turnovers.

Tufts, as it has all season, secured the victory with a number of timely runs. The most important of those came early in the second half, when the Jumbos went on a nine-point run to put them up 49-40. Despite Aronowitz’s best efforts, the Ephs would draw to within one but ultimately never close that gap.

“We had to win that one to get a home [playoff] game,” Coach Bob Sheldon said. “Our game plan was to continue what we were doing all year, to run the ball, get in some early offense, get the ball to our shooters—in to Tommy [Palleschi]. Defensively we were man-to-man, we wanted to stop Aronowitz, we wanted to be physical.”

The final game of the regular season was a close one for the Jumbos, who are set to face off against Ephs again in the quarterfinal match of the NESCAC tournament at Cousens Gym on Saturday, where they will be looking to stave off the Ephs' revenge hopes with the stakes even higher.

“[Being at home] means a lot,” Sheldon said, “especially to our three seniors. I think it’ll be crowded. I think it’ll be packed. It’s kind of like the sixth man; it gets us going, and we shoot a little better at home.”

Though Spadaford admitted it would be strange to face off against a team they just played, he also acknowledged the advantage that the recent matchup grants them.

“Honestly, it’s pretty good to play the team again,” Spadaford said. “We just went over all their scouts and all their stats; that’s still fresh in our minds. We’ll go over that again and be even more prepared, more familiar with the tendencies of every player.”

The Jumbos lead the NESCAC in average points per game with 86.6, while the Ephs are last in the league with 70.8. Tufts also leads in blocked shots per game and is second in rebounding to Wesleyan.

“Our goal from the beginning of the season was to make the NCAAs,” Sheldon said. “One of the ways to do that automtically is to win NESCAC. We’re in a good spot because we’re third, so if all the favorites win we wouldn’t have to play Trinity until the end, and they’re the team that really beat us.”

Though the Jumbos can generally rely on their ball movement and fast-paced offense to get them Ws, they can't count on a performance like the one they gave Friday night to beat the Ephs again. Tufts is expected to have the more explosive offense, but it will have to shoot much better as a team than it did Friday to fulfill its hopes of making it past the first round and going deep in the tournament.