The winning continues for the men's basketball team. After kicking off the weekend with a 92-75 victory at Wheaton on Thursday, Tufts went on to capture its second tournament title and MVP nod of the season on Sunday at the New England Big 4 Challenge hosted by Salem State.
On the road to the championship game, Tufts took out Babson College 54-48 on Saturday, before defeating the hosts 85-73 in the finals. Junior tri-captain Scott Anderson took home the MVP award for his 35-point overall performance to help his team improve to 6-1 with their first Crotty Cup in the three years they have participated in the event.
"It was huge for us to win the Big 4 Challenge this year because it really speaks to how far we've come," Anderson said. "In the past two years, especially two years ago, it seemed like we were satisfied with getting one win and seeing what happened in the championship game. This year our mindset from the get-go was to win the whole thing. We are a lot more focused this year than we have been in the past and it doesn't hurt that we have more talent too."
That talent was on display from the start of Sunday's championship against the Vikings. Although Tufts came out strong in the first half, Salem State was able to build a one-point lead two minutes past the break at 44-43. A well-timed three-pointer from freshman guard C.J. Moss erased the advantage, before a three and a two-point jumper from senior tri-captain brothers Dan and Brian Clark put the home team back up by one with 8:15 to play.
But the resilient Jumbos responded again, and this time, it was sophomore guard Oliver Cohen's three that sparked a 9-2 run to erase Salem State's momentum, as Tufts built a 71-65 margin heading in to the final five minutes. The Vikings pulled back within four twice, but the Jumbos were composed and confident as the clock wound down. Sophomore point guard and eventual All-Tournament selection KwameFirempong went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line to secure the victory.
"We've been ahead at half every game so far, and we always try to focus on slowly extending the lead until we're in control by double digits at the end," Moss said. "We didn't have a specific focus on protecting our lead during [Sunday's] halftime, but we had the mentality that we weren't going to lose the game."
Tufts had a strong mindset from the start. After the Vikings struck first, Tufts answered with a 14-2 run that would hold up until half. Salem State looked dangerous late in the first half, raising the tempo with a 7-0 run in the final minutes that put them within two just 20 seconds before the intermission. Although Firempong was able to respond with two free throws that gave the Jumbos the 41-37 halftime lead, it took a huge effort from the Jumbos in the second half to fend off the pesky Vikings.
Firempong led the team on the day with a career-high 22 points, four assists and two steals. Anderson chipped in 20 points, including 14 in the first half.
On Saturday, Firempong's free-throw shooting would again seal the deal for the Jumbos. After leading by seven on a jumper from the guard with 2:30 on the clock, five unanswered points and a steal from Babson left Tufts with a precarious two-point lead and Babson ball with 1:32 remaining.
But the Beavers missed a jumper and senior forward Alex Orchowski came up with the rebound, forcing Babson to foul after a Tufts timeout. Firempong hit the two free throws and Orchowski earned another rebound before taking the line for another two points to make it 52-46 with 16 seconds on the clock. Moss blocked Babson's next attempt, before Firempong took the line again to punch the Jumbos' ticket to the championship, 54-48.
In the first half — riding high after Thursday's victory in which the Jumbos shot at a blistering 63 percent clip from the field — Tufts came out firing against previously undefeated Babson. The Jumbos jumped out to a 12-point lead on an old-fashioned three-point play from Anderson in the first 13 minutes.
But Babson's defense had the answers that Wheaton's did not, holding the Jumbos to just 43 percent shooting before halftime. However, Tufts' defensive effort was even better, as the Beavers made just 36 percent of their shots from the field, enabling the Jumbos to mount a 24-20 halftime lead.
"Normally our offense is what drives us," Moss said. "But because Babson's zone was so effective, we had to put more focus into winning the defensive battle."
That defensive battle fell off briefly after the break, when Babson opened the second with a three that drew the Beavers within one. Firempong answered with two from the line, followed by a jumper by Anderson that started an 8-0 run, putting Tufts up 34-25 with 16:07 to play. From there, Tufts never relinquished the lead.
Anderson led the effort on Saturday with a game-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, followed by Firempong — who again shot at 100 percent from the line, going 6-for-6 — with 10.
"We're always focused on free throws," Anderson said. "All of us stay late after practice every day to get up at least 10 before we leave. We also always end up in a good situation at the end of games because our best free-throw shooter is also our point guard, Kwame."
Tonight, Tufts will return to Cousens Gym to take on the 2-4 Plymouth State Panthers — a team which overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to upset the Jumbos in 2010. This year, the Jumbos will look to close out the Panthers early and start off the final week before winter recess with an impressive 7-1.
"We need this win," Anderson said. "A team like Plymouth State, with a not so good record, has seemed to be our kryptonite in the past so we know we have to come out aggressive early. Going into break after a 2-0 week would be great, but we need to focus on the first one before we can start thinking about MIT [on Saturday]."
