Men open season with win, drop two in Colorado

The men's basketball team started its season off on the right foot with an 86-77 home victory over the non-conference Springfield College Pride at Cousens Gym last Tuesday night, before travelling to Colorado for the Radisson Thanksgiving Invitational hosted by Colorado College. Tufts lost both games in Colorado to drop its early season record to 1-2.

In Colorado, the Jumbos lost a double overtime thriller 87-81 to Wabash College, who is ranked in the top 20 in the nation, in the first round. In the consolation game, the Jumbos fell badly to host Colorado College 105-75.

"In the first round against Wabash, a lot of our players played over 30 minutes, which is a lot," freshman forward Blaine Lay said. "We were definitely tired for the consolation game, and just didn't play very well defensively.

The outcome was a different story last Tuesday though, when the Jumbos ran all over an outmatched Springfield team in the season first game.

"We've been practicing for a while now, and it was good to finally get out there and play against a different group of guys," Lay said.

The first five minutes of action saw both teams play equally well. With 15:08 left in the first half, the Pride led the Jumbos by the score of 14-13. However, over the following 5 minutes, the Jumbos went on a tear, outscoring the Pride 17-3. They turned a one-point deficit into a 13-point lead, led by senior forward Mike McGlynn, who scored six points to lead the Jumbo run.

The Jumbos confidently went into halftime leading 51-30, despite building up a 23 point lead with just a minute and a half left. Tufts was led by senior co-captain Brian Shapiro, who did not miss a shot in the half. He scored 17 points on 7-7 shooting from the field, including three three-pointers and five assists. The Jumbos shot 56 percent from the field in the half (22/39), and held the Pride to a meager 33 percent (12/36).

Tufts kept its lead up around 20 points for the majority of the second half of play. With 5:49 remaining, a lay-up by senior co-captain Jim Wilson put the Jumbos up 79-59, seemingly putting the game away. However, the Pride refused to give up, cutting the deficit in half with 2:09 left on the clock.

With less than a minute to play, a basket by Pride senior Adetokunbo Adewuyi cut the Jumbo lead to just eight points, but Shapiro sank two free throws on the ensuing possession to clinch the victory for Tufts.

The team's aggressiveness in the first half was key in the win.

"We slacked off a little bit on defense in the second half, letting them get back into the game, but that is something that is definitely correctable," Lay said. "However, we're definitely optimistic looking back on the game, because a win's a win, and in the end, that's all that counts."

Overall, Tufts outshot the Pride from the field 52 percent to 41 percent. Shapiro led the Jumbo attack with 27 points, five assists, and three steals on 9/13 from the field in 28 minutes of play. Junior Deyvehn East led the team with seven rebounds in just 12 minutes of play, and sophomore Craig Coupe anchored the defense with six boards and two blocked shots to go with his 13 points in 30 minutes. Lay led the reserves with eight points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots in his first collegiate contest.

The early season games made the team realize that it needs to solidify its defense.

"Most [players] can easily score double digits in points, but what distinguish us as a great team rather than just a good team is defense," Lay said. "Our defense, which is mostly an internal battle, is the only thing standing in our way from being a very successful team."

The Jumbos will face non-conference rival Babson College this Tuesday night at home at Cousens Gym at 7 p.m.