Jumbos drop first NESCAC game

LEWISTON, ME _ Interesting things can happen when emotions run high in basketball games. Sometimes teams can turn the emotions into fast paced, high intensity basketball, and sometimes they can let emotions get the best of them.

Yesterday afternoon it was the Bates men's basketball team that was able to use its intensity and energetic home crowd to its advantage, as Tufts floundered in a barrage of foul calls and missed shots to fall by a score of 88-72.

"In the second half they started to get physical and they were hitting all of their shots," senior co-captain Jim Wilson said. "It was just one of those games where we haven't played in many close games recently, and we just have to go back and work on going shot for shot."

After entering halftime separated by only three points, Bates opened up the second half on fire, nailing shots from all around the court while the Jumbos struggled to find a rhythm. The Bobcats outscored Tufts 23-10 during the first ten minutes of the second half to go up 58-42, but the Jumbos went on a small run of their own to pull within 12 at 59-47 with just over eight minutes remaining. Despite a significant Tufts size advantage, the Bobcats played physically in the paint and forced the ball outside, where the Jumbos were having shooting troubles.

"We've seen Tufts play before when you double them, and Coupe is so good at passing the ball that we didn't think we could double him," Bates coach Joe Reilly said. "So we just wanted to play him straight up and not necessarily shut down Coupe, but shut down the other perimeter players. I think sometimes you can get so caught up in stopping one guy that you don't see the whole picture."

Following a quick score by Bates, the game got out of hand for Tufts.

Junior point guard Eric Mack stole the ball at mid-court at 7:43 and called timeout. Upset that there was no foul called, coach Bob Sheldon walked on to the court to argue and was issued a technical foul. Bates co-captain C.J. Neeley hit both free throws to stretch the Bobcat lead to 15. On the ensuing trip down the court, Sheldon quietly said something to one of the officials in front of the Tufts bench. He was then issued his second technical foul and was forced to leave the court.

"I said 'We need to have it called both ways,' and he said, 'I think we're doing that,'" Sheldon said. "Then he said, 'Do you think we're cheating you?' and I said, 'Yes I think you're cheating us,' And he gave me the technical."

Sheldon's ejection electrified the crowd in the packed Alumni Gym, and after Neeley again nailed the free throws, the Jumbos found themselves down by 17 at 64-47.

The remainder of the half was characterized by an abundance of foul calls and plenty of missed shots. Over the final 6:30 of the game there were 11 fouls called.

Tufts trailed by as many as 21 points at 76-55 with 4:45 left to play and only came within 16 on several occasions. Following Sheldon's ejection, the Jumbos outscored the Bobcats 25-24, but it was far too little and way too late as the damage had already been done. A three pointer by senior Mike McGlynn with 46 seconds left proved to be the final score for both teams. The Bobcats walked away with the 16-point victory.

Neeley, the reigning NESCAC Player-of-the-Week, led all scorers with 19 points, adding six rebounds and four assists. Brain Gerrity followed his teammate with 18, while two other Bobcats finished in double digits as well.

Sophomore Craig Coupe led the way for Tufts with 16 points and a game high eight rebounds. McGlynn also had 16 points while shooting 5-17 from the floor, including 4-12 from downtown. McGlynn was at the center of his own controversy as well when a Bates player inbounding the ball threw it directly into McGlynn's face. Tempers flared briefly as McGlynn had to be held back, but no fouls were assessed.

"The guy said it was unintentional, but the ball was thrown before anybody made any cuts, so we don't know if it was unintentional or not," Wilson said. "The officials did what they thought they should. [The calls weren't] blatantly one sided or anything. Nobody's paying anybody at this level."

The loss moved the Jumbos to 8-7 on the season and 2-1 in the NESCAC, while Bates improved to 14-2 (3-0 NESCAC). Tufts' next game is Tuesday at Brandeis and will be the Jumbos' seventh consecutive road game. Their next NESCAC game is against Amherst on Friday at Cousens Gym.