The men's basketball team took an important step towards postseason play this weekend, rebounding from a Friday night loss to Williams with a crucial 103-88 win over Middlebury on Saturday. The Jumbos entered the final stretch of the regular season needing to win at least one - possibly two - of their last four games just to qualify for one of the seven spots in the conference tournament.
Last season, the team was in a similar situation, needing to win just one of its final four games to make the tournament. But that team lost all four, including dropping the last three games by a combined total of nine points, and went home early. This year, the Jumbos hope to do better.
"I see this team playing more than one or two more games," coach Bob Sheldon said. "We're going to be playing more after next weekend."
Tufts came up with one of its best defensive efforts of the year in the second half of Saturday's game to help that happen, allowing just 37 points to a Middlebury team that had put up 51 in the first frame.
"It was all our defense in the second half," Sheldon said. "Guys kind of left their comfort zone a little bit and stepped up."
That, combined with consistently strong performances from juniors Mike McGlynn and Brian Shapiro, who finished with 25 and 24 points, respectively, was enough to earn a 15-point win. Tufts even found a way to silence Panther forward Eric Bundonis, who had 22 points in the first half but finished the game with just 28. The Jumbos held Middlebury to 30.3 percent from the floor in the second period, while shooting a scorching 62.1 percent themselves.
"It was a good team win," Sheldon said. "I thought we did a really good job."
The Jumbos knew Saturday's win was important for getting them back on the right track, because the loss to Williams was almost a given. The Ephs came into Friday's contest ranked 24th in the nation, at 18-3, having won seven of their last eight and their last six against the Jumbos.
And while Tufts had battled hard against the number one team in New England in an 88-85 loss to Keene State two weeks ago, the team was unable to come up with a similar performance this time around, losing 85-69. Williams took over early, and kept up a double-digit lead through most of the second half.
So now the Jumbos find themselves in another familiar situation. Like last year's team, they are 3-4 with two games - Wesleyan and Conn. College - left on the schedule. But this time those games are at home, not at the end of a four-game road trip, like last year, and that should give the Jumbos a slight boost.
And this year's team now has another, much more important, advantage over the 2000-01 squad - a win over Middlebury. With the Panthers falling to 3-5 in the conference, it would take two Tufts losses, and an improbable Middlebury win at Williams, for the Jumbos to end up lower in the standings.
"We all knew we had to win," McGlynn said of Saturday's game. "We have the tiebreaker over them now. So this was a big game - we all knew we had to come out and win it."
Colby, also fighting for one of the final tournament spots, is even with Tufts at 3-4 in conference play after upsetting Bowdoin on Saturday, but is one of only two NESCAC teams with sub-.500 overall records. The White Mules lost to the Jumbos Feb. 1, and finish their season with road games at Trinity and Amherst, who have a combined 30-10 record, leaving them with an uphill battle to get to the postseason.
Tufts also has a win over Bates - a 111-104 overtime thriller - meaning the Bobcats, at 1-6, will end up behind the Jumbos even if they win out and Tufts drops its last two.
All this means that, while it is still mathematically possible for Tufts to miss the NESCAC Tournament, the odds are against it. With Saturday's win over Middlebury, the Jumbos put themselves in good position for a postseason run. But wins in their last two games could bump the Jumbos up as high as the number four seed, which would give them an easier first-round match-up.
Tufts will look to bolster its position in the conference standings next weekend as the team hosts Wesleyan on Friday and then Conn. College in the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon.
