The men's basketball team ended its two-game losing skid last night with an 84-77 overtime win over MIT. With the victory, Tufts improved its record to 4-3 on the season. The loss spoiled what had been an unblemished year for the Engineers, dropping their record to 7-1.
Coming off two straight losses, and in danger of dropping below the .500 mark, the victory in what coach Bob Sheldon called a "must-win" game, was crucial.
"We needed a win," Sheldon said. "We were coming in here 3-3, just lost two in a row. They were coming in here 7-0. This was pretty huge."
After trading leads late in the second half, the teams found themselves tied at 70 with 1:31 left. Neither team could get a shot to fall as the clock wound down, and a three-point attempt by junior Brian Shapiro with four seconds left caromed off the rim, sending the teams into overtime knotted at 70.
In overtime, the Jumbos looked inside to freshman center Craig Coupe, who scored five early points to help Tufts to a 77-72 lead with 3:30 to play. After MIT evened the score at 77 with 1:56 left, junior Kyle Van Natta put the Jumbos up for good with a layup at 1:09.
A Shapiro layup with 39 seconds remaining boosted the lead to 81-77. The Engineers failed to score again, and three Jumbos free throws on desperation fouls gave Tufts the victory.
The game was close in the early minutes, as the two teams traded leads, matching each other shot for shot. The MIT shooters caught fire, however, hitting 18-27 first half shots. Leading the way for MIT was freshman Adam Gibbons, who connected on 7-10 shots, scoring 18 of his game-high 29 points in the first half. The Jumbos, meanwhile, were led in the first half by junior Brian Shapiro, who had 12 points on 4-8 shooting.
A Shapiro three pointer, followed by a breakaway layup, put the Jumbos up 37-34 with 3:45 remaining in the half. MIT hung close, however, and the score was knotted at 41 at 1:44. But the Jumbos were not able to muster any more offense before the break, as the Engineers effectively shut down the their perimeter game, holding the team to only eight three point attempts in the first half. An MIT three pointer sent the Engineers into halftime with a 44-41 lead.
"They did a good job of taking away the three," Sheldon said. "We still scored 41 points, but we didn't get a lot of good looks."
MIT struck first in the second half, increasing its lead to 46-41. That was as large as the Engineer lead would get, however, as the Jumbos looked inside to Coupe, who finished the game with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"In the second half we went inside to Coupe more," Sheldon said. "We did a good job adjusting."
The Jumbos took their first lead of the second half with 6:44 remaining, when a three pointer by junior Mike McGlynn put Tufts up 65-63. MIT took the lead back forty seconds later, after consecutive layups gave the Engineers a 67-65 lead. The teams would knot the score at 70 and head into overtime.
While they walked away with the victory, the Jumbos only had 16 three-point attempts on the night, their lowest total of the season. The limited looks at the basket from beyond the arc suggests that teams are trying to shut down Tufts' potent perimeter game.
"I think teams are really going to try and take our three point shots away," Sheldon said.
With the perimeter game effectively muted, the Jumbos looked inside to Coupe a great deal in the closing minutes. While it may appear that Tufts is shifting its game plan to rely less on the three point shot, Sheldon insists this is not the case.
"We're just going to be more balanced now," he said. "It's part of the growing process."
Next up for Tufts will be a match up against 5-3 Wheaton College. While the contest is again a non-NESCAC game, the Jumbos are nonetheless taking it seriously.
"Wheaton started out a little slow, but now they've won two or three in a row," Sheldon said. "It's gonna be another battle. We're gonna work on getting more balance, maybe set up some more plays to get the ball inside to Coupe."
The Jumbos face off against Wheaton on Saturday at 7pm, as the back end of a men's and women's double-header.
