The men's basketball team was lacking a few things this weekend. Drama was not one of them.
After beating Trinity 64-62 on a buzzer-beater on Friday night, Tufts gave national No. 6 Amherst a run for its money, leading after the first half and closing in late before eventually falling 74-65.
The weekend split puts the Jumbos at 16-6 overall and 6-3 in the NESCAC, where they sit in third place two weeks before the conference tournament.
After the Jumbos honored their four seniors — forwards Alex Orchowski, James Long and Peter Saba and guard AmaurisQuezada — on Saturday, the teams traded leads throughout the first half. But after Tufts took a 36-35 advantage into the locker room, the Lord Jeffs took a firmer hold of the reins in the second half.
After a dunk from Orchowski brought the crowd to its feet and put the Jumbos within one, at 45-44 with 13:55 to play, Amherst built a seven-point lead. The Jumbos would get within three twice more in the next few minutes, but the Lord Jeffs pulled away and the home team was forced to foul. Amherst went 9-for-11 from the line late, sealing the win and staying undefeated in the NESCAC.
"We weren't able to defend and rebound down the stretch like we have been doing recently," sophomore guard KwameFirempong said. "And Amherst took advantage of its second chance opportunities and put the game away."
"We wanted to come in and prove we can beat one of the best teams in the country, but unfortunately we were unable to do that," Orchowski said. "Our rebounding was poor and you can't give a great team like Amherst too many second chances."
The Jumbos also lost ground at the line, missing seven of their 16 attempts while watching the Lord Jeffs shoot nearly 80 percent.
Moss had a strong day with 12 points — including 10 in the first half — and three assists. Orchowski chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds and junior tri-captain forward Scott Anderson added 10 points and seven boards.
Freshman guard Ben Ferris stepped up in a huge way off the bench, compiling 16 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals in just 27 minutes.
The night before, Tufts handed Trinity a heartbreaking loss, as Firempong nailed a step-back jumper to win it as time expired.
The Bantams led by seven on two occasions in the first half, but the Jumbos went on a 15-4 run to take a 23-19 lead with just under six minutes left before the intermission. The teams traded leads three more times, and at halftime they were deadlocked at 31-31.
Trinity opened the second half with a 14-6 burst to establish a 45-37 lead, but the Jumbos stuck around, and Orchowski finally tied it at 55-55 with 3:21 to play. He and Moss combined for the Jumbos' next seven points, giving the team a 62-57 lead with 1:17 on the clock.
But the Bantams came storming back, scoring the next five to tie the game at 62-62 with 12 seconds left on a long three from junior guard Mick DiStasio. Sheldon elected not to call a timeout, and Cohen took the ball down the court before handing it off to Firempong, who drove inside, crossed up his defender, and hit a 15-foot step-back jumper for the 64-62 win.
"We really started to lock down defensively," said Firempong of the end of Friday's game. "We were able to make some big stops and key buckets down the stretch."
Moss's 13 points led the team. Orchowski had 12 points and five blocks, while Firempong added 11 points, two assists and two steals. The game was almost lost for the Jumbos on the boards, as Trinity controlled the rebounding game 33-24.
"[Friday] night was a great win, but we had a lot of lapses on the defensive end," Orchowski said. "We weren't able to stop them from beating us with ball screens and we also did a poor job rebounding the ball on both ends. We were lucky to pull that one out."
If the Jumbos can hold off a 2-6 in-conference Hamilton squad on Friday —— and if Wesleyan doesn't win its next three conference matchups — Tufts will enter the playoffs with its best conference seeding since 2006.
"That [Hamilton] game can have huge implications in the league standings and a dramatic effect on our momentum heading into the postseason," Orchowski said. "It will be important to come out and get a much-needed win against them on the road next week."
