While elephants are not typically predatory animals, the men's basketball team proved that Jumbos can attack, and that they like to assault helpless birds, as they stomped and butted their way to a 82-73 victory over the Keene State Owls on Wednesday night. The win boosted Tufts record to 14-4 overall including 2-1 in NESCAC play.
After missing the two previous games with a high ankle sprain, sophomore guard Brian Shapiro (3-6 for 10 points) made his return to the lineup. While Shapiro's return did not have quite the same impact as the comeback of a famous Chicago Bulls' guard in 1995, the Jumbos were undeniably jumpstarted when Shapiro checked into the game.
"Brian is one of our main scorers and gives us a great boost on offense," sophomore guard Lee Neugebauer said. "When he got into the game [last night], he started to go to work right away by nailing a deep three the minute he got into the game."
With his ankle still sore, coach Bob Sheldon decided to have Shapiro come off the bench, allowing speedy freshman Phil Barlow (2-7 for 7 points and 3 assists) to remain in the starting lineup, where he had excelled against Trinity last Friday before slowing down on Saturday versus Amherst.
While Shapiro's return to action made good copy, he was only a supporting actor, as sophomore forward Kyle Van Natta won the Emmy for his performance in the slaying of the Owls. The second year player, who has averaged only 5.6 points per game, exploded for 19 points while also grabbing five rebounds.
"I think they probably focused their defense more on Dan [Flaherty], Fred [Pedroletti], Brian [Shapiro] and Phil [Barlow], the guys that have been scoring a lot and didn't really think I would be much of a factor," Van Natta said. "I was able to get a few open shots to down in the beginning, and I think that just got me going."
Van Natta's outburst was especially rewarding as he spent much of last season, learning the intricacies of college ball while not playing as many minutes as he may have desired. Despite being a starter this season, for the most part, Van Natta's role has been that of a defense stopper and rebounder.
"Last year we had a really talented team, and had really good players at each position, so being a freshman, minutes can be hard to come by, but I think everyone pays their dues freshman year," Van Natta said. "I think that got me ready to step up this year and play. We have a bunch of guys who can score, so I think there are my nights to step up and score, but other nights my role might be more defense and rebounding."
Senior co-captain Flaherty, turned in his typically solid all around performance, tying Van Natta for the team high with 19 points on 8-11 shooting, and his six rebounds also paced the squad. Senior co-captain and point guard Bobby Mpuku was a maestro on the court, directing the offense with a season high 11 assists to go along with his eight points.
The Jumbos offense which shot 51 percent from the field, began the day hotter than Death Valley in the middle of the afternoon, shooting a startling 56.2 percent from the field in the first half including 8-17 from behind the three point arc.
If Tufts was scalding than it would be safe to say that Keene State was glacial, as the Owls shot an embarrassing 20 percent from the field in the first half and an abysmal 29.7 for the game. Still Keene State managed to outscore the Jumbos, 41-35 in the second half. Both Tufts and Keene State shot just a tad over 41 percent in the half but the Owls had 29 field goal attempts to the Jumbos 17.
"We had scouted them, and we knew that they liked to get out and run and shoot a lot of threes," Van Natta said. "When we forced them to set up a half court game, I think it kind of took them out of what they wanted to do. Also, we boxed out well and didn't give up a whole lot of second shots."
"The keys to the game were getting back on defense, contesting their three point shots, and most importantly to box out and rebound," Neugebauer said.
The Jumbos continue their NESCAC season on Friday against Colby before going to war against Bowdoin on Saturday. These two matchups will both take place in Cousens Gym and mark the end of Tufts home schedule. After Saturday, the Jumbos will become road warriors, ending the regular season with five consecutive games against NESCAC foes in enemy territory.
