Jumbos hand Keene St. a win

On Tuesday night at Keene State, the men's basketball team got a pair of double-doubles from sophomores Craig Coupe and Reggie Stovell, as well as 23 points from senior guard Mike McGlynn and 16 from co-captain Jim Wilson. But none of those numbers mattered. Not when the Jumbos turned the ball over 32 times.

These 32 turnovers translated into a 95-79 thumping at the hands of the Owls, the second in a row for the Jumbos.

"We had 32, they had seven," coach Bob Sheldon said. "This is something that's been plaguing us for a while."

Keene State pressed the Jumbos for the entire game, which no doubt was an important reason why they had as many turnovers as they did. But last Saturday against Trinity, who did not press, the Jumbos had 22 turnovers, and lost that game by 20 points.

"I really think that this is more of an attitude and a mental thing more than a physical one," Sheldon said. "We talked a lot about valuing the ball, but it has been a problem."

A quick look at the game's box score can tell a lot about how the team's turnovers were the biggest factors in the game. McGlynn shot 5-11 from three-point land, while the entire Keene St. team hit only two out of 17 attempts from beyond the arc.

McGlynn scored more points than anyone else in the game, and Tufts out-rebounded the Owls 55-34. Keene St. also shot a less-than-inspiring 19-30 from the free throw line.

Tufts dominated the Owls in most aspects of the game, except for turnovers. And even with the 32-7 disparity in this category, the game was tied at 62-62 early on the second half. But the turnovers continued to mount for Tufts, and Keene St. went on a 23-9 run to take a 14-point lead with 3:42 left in the game.

Further contributing to the Jumbos' ball control problems on Tuesday was the fact that they were playing without junior point guard Eric Mack, who was out with a foot injury. Mack has provided a spark off of the bench for Tufts, and has been solid when handing the ball in relief of starter Jim Wilson. Mack's status is day to day, but he will likely play in Tufts' two NESCAC games this weekend.

If there is a positive to take away from Tuesday's game, it is the individual performances from Tufts' starters. McGlynn's five three-pointers moved him closer to a career total of 300. Going into the weekend game, McGlynn has 294 threes _ six short of 300, and ten away from cracking the top 20 all time for Div. III basketball. 300 would be a significant accomplishment for McGlynn, especially after playing two seasons in the NESCAC, where teams play two fewer games per season than the rest of the Div. III teams.

Also encouraging for the Jumbos was Coupe's 13 points and 15 rebounds. The sophomore center, who averages a double-double for the season, and is the NESCAC's top rebounder, rebounded well from his four point two rebound performance in the Jumbos loss to Trinity.

Stovell continued his recent hot streak, with ten points and 12 rebounds, his second double-double in as many games.

This weekend Tufts will face two more NESCAC opponents, Bowdoin and Colby, both of which sport 1-5 conference records. The Jumbos should have little problem handing either team, but if the recent turnover trend continues the games could be closer than expected.

"These are two very winnable games for us," Sheldon said. "These are two game we have to go out and get."