The loss of sophomore guard Brian Shapiro, the team's second-leading scorer at 15.6 ppg, to a high ankle sprain opened the door for freshman Phil Barlow, who started Friday for just the second time this season. Barlow, who has provided the Jumbos with a spark off the bench all season long, played a career-high 35 minutes in the win over Trinity, putting up 17 points and six assists to go along with three steals.
More important, however, was his savvy on the court. Barlow ran the offense for Tufts, while senior co-captain and starting point guard Bobby Mpuku shifted to the two-spot when they were both in the game. Barlow's intensity gave the Jumbos the momentum they needed to climb back from a deficit that was as high as 14 points near the end of the first half. Barlow and senior co-captain Dan Flaherty helped chop that lead to five by the break, combining for seven points in a 9-0 Tufts run that closed out the period.
"Phil does a great job," Flaherty said. "He's a freshman, but he plays like a junior."
Tufts continued their push into the second half, cutting the lead down to one on a Barlow fast-break lay-up with 17:45 to play, but Trinity responded by slowly building their lead back up. With just over four minutes remaining in the game and Tufts down 74-70, Trinity guard Mike Keohane hit a big three pointer to push the margin back to seven.
Barlow, however, responded with a quick strike of his own, nailing a shot from downtown just seconds after Keohane's, and igniting the crowd into a frenzy. After a quick Bantam miss, Barlow once again pushed the ball up court, and fired up another ball from behind the arc, hoping to cut the lead to one and inject the team with another surge of momentum. While that one didn't fall, that intensity helped to spark the Jumbos, who went on to score the next six points to edge out Trinity 79-77.
The 35 minutes of time took its toll on the freshman though, and he appeared tired against Amherst on Saturday. Despite playing nearly 15 minutes in the opening half, he had just three points to show for the effort. Those points came off an early jumper and on the front end of a one-and-one late in the period. It was Tufts' frontcourt that accounted for most of the offense, with Flaherty and fellow seniors Fred Pedroletti and Tom Bernier combining for 21 of the team's 32 first-half points.
As Barlow struggled, hitting just one of his 12 shots from the floor, the loss of Shapiro became increasingly significant. Aside from Flaherty, who finished with 26 points on the afternoon (the only Tufts player to score in double digits), the Jumbos were unable to create much offense on the inside, with the only points from the other big men coming from the line and a lone Pedroletti three pointer. In addition, Amherst's big men were able to capitalize on their size inside, battling underneath to gain a 49-37 advantage on the boards.
The Jumbos were forced to turn to their outside game, which wasn't doing much better. Junior Bobby MacMannis and sophomore Kyle Van Natta combined for 14 points on the day, although all six of MacMannis' points came from the free throw line. Tufts' four other backcourt players totaled just five points, and could not make up for Shapiro's absence. The team managed to pull within two with approximately five minutes remaining, but did not have the firepower to pull off a second straight comeback.
The result was the lowest offensive output by the Jumbos this season, well below the 70 they scored in the season-opener against Salem State. The team shot just 25 percent from the floor in the second half, compared to 43.5 percent by the Lord Jeffs, and went just 2-11 from three-point range.
Fatigue was a factor for the entire team, which has played back-to-back games four times so far this season. After Friday night's huge comeback win, the team was drained both physically and emotionally, and a number of players missed open shots down the stretch on Saturday, preventing Tufts from getting any closer than four after the five-minute mark.
"It's always tough, but that's the way the schedule goes," Mpuku said of playing back-to-back games. "We ran out of gas towards the end [of the Amherst game]."
Coach Bob Sheldon used a ten-man rotation to try to give his players more rest time, but with Barlow struggling and Shapiro unavailable, the Jumbos just didn't have enough options on offense.
"Missing Brian hurt us more [Saturday] than it did [Friday] night," Sheldon said.
Tufts will not be the only team feeling tired in the coming weeks. The conference schedule will not provide rest for any NESCAC teams as every school will play two games for each of the next three weekends to wrap up the regular season schedule.
Shapiro dressed for Saturday's game, but did not play because he had trouble moving from side to side. He may return soon, however, and will be a welcome sight for the Jumbos, who will continue their conference schedule this weekend at home against Colby and Bowdoin.
