Men’s basketball lost to Trinity in its first game of the NESCAC tournament. The No. 2 seed Jumbos came up short against the No. 7 seed Bantams in an attempt to advance to the NESCAC semifinals.
Graduate student guard Brennan Morris took advantage of an opportunity to start momentum in Tufts' favor early in the game, draining a three-point shot from the top of the key. Throughout the first half, both teams were extremely productive on offense, exchanging three-point shots and difficult fadeaway jumpers during nearly every possession.
The score was all tied up at 25–25 with a little over six minutes remaining in the half. Trinity took its first lead 25–27 but senior forward Luke Rodgers quickly responded, getting fouled in the paint but making the basket, evening the score and putting the Jumbos back in the lead by one.
The game continued to hold the same explosive energy, with the lead trading off between the two teams for the remainder of the half. Just as the half started, it ended with a three-pointer by Morris, securing the Jumbos a four-point lead heading into the second half. With the Jumbos ahead with a score of 44–40, the game was on track for a much higher scoring and competitive contest than the teams’ first meeting, which ended 61–38 in favor of Tufts.
At the end of the half, Rodgers led the Jumbos in points with 13 points scored. Junior guard Dylan Thoerner was close behind with 11, shooting 3-4 from three. Bantams leading scorer and sophomore forward Ben Callahan-Gold was nearly shut down by the Jumbos on offense with only four points and ran into early foul trouble attempting to guard Rodgers in the paint. On the bench for Trinity, senior guard Tyler Mola picked up the slack, despite averaging only five points a game for the season, scoring 13 points.
The contest continued to go back and forth in the second half, but with momentum more so in favor of the Bantams. Callahan-Gold came alive, scoring eight in the first six minutes in the second half.
While Trinity’s offense started to find its groove, Tufts’ offense encountered a little difficulty with ball movement and finding open shooters as the team’s offensive players did in the first half. Ten minutes into the half, the Bantams increased their lead to double digits, 53–64, for the biggest lead from either team in the contest so far.
Callahan-Gold scored back-to-back three-pointers increasing the Bantams’ lead to fifteen. With three minutes left, the Jumbos trailed by six points and started implementing a full-court press, hoping to force a turnover. Despite efforts by the Jumbos, persistent and consistent offense by the Bantams protected their lead.
An 11-point Trinity lead with two minutes left in the game was simply too large for Tufts to recover. The Jumbos tried to play the foul quick defensive strategy in the last minute, but it was too late and the Bantams iced it from the free-throw line. The final score was 90–76, representative of the Bantams’ offensive hot streak during the second half.
Thoerner attributed the loss to Trinity's high-level scoring.
“I think defensively we kind of struggled to contain them, especially shooting-wise,” Thoerner said. “I think they shot over 40% from three and I think that was a combination of them just being hot and also us giving them some open looks. I know in the second half they were hitting some pretty tough shots over us that we kind of just have to live with. It was more of them just playing a great game than us really lacking in an area of the game.”
Rodgers ended the game with an impressive 24 points and 12 rebounds. Thoerner finished with 21 points and senior guard Will Brady ended with 11. An impressive five players for the Bantams scored in the double digits for the afternoon.
The Jumbos’ season has now come to a close, unless they receive an at-large bid for a slot in the NCAA tournament. Despite a rocky start to the season, the team’s final record is 13–10 overall and 8–2 in regular conference play. With this final game, the program sends off three of its starters in Brady, Morris and Rodgers, along with seniors Kieran Kindig and Eric Debrine.
Head Coach Brandon Linton said he is looking forward to utilizing younger players in the following seasons.
“Definitely looking forward to the group of underclassmen we have on the current team,” Linton said. “While it was a good year and we had some good veterans, there are some really talented underclassmen who will be able to step into bigger roles next year, and we'll be able to complement that with an exciting new group of freshmen this coming fall. So, looking forward to continuing to build little by little.”
Heading into his senior season as a Jumbo, Thoerner is hopeful for a smooth transition and successful season.
“Our coach … It was his first year, so there were some adjustments with the change of coaching staff,” Thoerner said. “I think this upcoming year we’ll have everyone on the same page, and we’ll know what to expect from the coaches and the coaches will know what to expect from us. Hopefully there’s better chemistry with the team in that sense ... I don’t think we’ll get off to as rough of a start as we did this year.”
