On an afternoon when Tufts honored five seniors playing their last home games, then defeated Bowdoin in an 87-85 come-from-behind victory, freshman guard Phil Barlow shifted Saturday's focus onto the bright future of the basketball program.
After scoring nine points on 4-7 shooting in the first half, the Barlow-bomb detonated in the second half, as the guard scored 19 of his game and career-high 26 points. With 7:16 left in the first half, Barlow left the crowd silent when he staggered to the ground in pain, following a deft steal and lay-up, which gave the Jumbos a 66-64 lead. He clutched his ankle in pain, but later limped off the court to a round of applause from the appreciative crowd.
"Phil is just a great player," coach Bob Sheldon said. "He's making big shots. He hurts his ankle and then [minutes later] he says 'put me in.'"
"I went up and put a shot up and came down on another guy's ankle," Barlow said. "I got it taped and it's a little sore but nothing too serious."
After receiving treatment from the trainer on the sideline, Barlow checked back into the game and made five of five clutch free throws with less than three minutes in the game. Had it not been for the injury, Barlow may have netted the first 30-point game of his career.
If Barlow was the headliner of the contest, then junior guard Bobby MacMannis proved that the supporting act could be nearly as entertaining.
MacMannis erupted for a season high 12 points, all during the deciding second half, as the junior, who seems fully recovered from an early season wrist injury, shot 3-4 from the field including 2-2 from behind the three point arc. His four free throws in the final 2:42 helped ice the victory.
"It's been up and down," MacMannis said about his shooting and his wrist. "I've been struggling from three. It felt good to hit a couple."
While Barlow and MacMannis stole the show, senior co-captains center Dan Flaherty (6-13 for 19 points and six rebounds), and guard Bobby Mpuku (3-6 for 10 points and six assists), capped off their Tufts careers in Cousens in memorable fashion.
The Jumbos victory was a tale of two halves as the team performed poorly from both the free throw line (33.3 percent), and from beyond the three point arc (9.1 percent) in the first half. But, Tufts came out of the locker room fired up in the second half, shooting a blistering 56.5 percent from the field including 38.5 percent from downtown.
"We looked sluggish and real tired coming in," Barlow said. "We came in and weren't that happy with the first half. We came out [for the second half] with emotion."
The Jumbos also managed to recover at the line in the final 20 minutes of the contest, connecting on 25 of 33 attempts.
"The last few games we haven't been shooting well from the line so people needed to step up," MacMannis said.
"Guys on our team are winners," Sheldon said. "Anyone, I think, down the stretch is going to make [free throws]."
Barlow's free throws with 17 seconds remaining proved to be the decisive margin, as the Polar Bear's sophomore guard nailed a runner in the lane with eight seconds left narrowing the score to 87-84. The Jumbos got one final scare when Bowdoin's towering senior center Erich Buschmann stole Tufts' inbound pass, drew a foul, and hit on one of two free throw attempts. By missing the first of the pair, Buschmann ostensibly handed the Jumbos a key victory.
"That was a must win for us," Sheldon said. "Basketball-wise we didn't play well, but heart-wise we showed our most in a long time."
The huge win came less than 24 hours after Mpuku's potential game tying three pointer rolled around the inside of the basket before bouncing out, in Tufts heartbreaking 68-65 loss to Colby on Friday night.
Mpuku's shot came as time expired and just seconds after he had hoisted up another three that may have sent the game into overtime. After Mpuku's first attempt, Flaherty grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it back out to the guard.
Following Mpuku's final shot, the senior guard collapsed the ground at mid-court, as he and the crowd both reacted to a shot that could have sent the game into OT.
"I don't know how that didn't go in," Barlow.
"Everyone was kind of down," MacMannis said. "We are used to winning games like that."
With the loss against Colby, the showdown against Bowdoin became a must-win. Another loss to a NESCAC rival (the Jumbos already have two) could have severely hindered Tufts' chances of qualifying for the NESCAC playoffs.
With a 3-2 NESCAC record, the Jumbos have their work cut out for them, as they end their season with four consecutive away games against conference foes.
"Our main goal is to get into the NESCAC tournament," Sheldon said.
