Shapiro ends home career in style

For Brian Shapiro, it couldn't really have ended any better.

In his last game at Cousens Gym, in front of what he called "the biggest crowd I've seen since I've been here," the senior co-captain did not disappoint. Shapiro racked up 17 points in Tufts' first round playoff win against Middlebury on Saturday, but it was not so much the amount of points that mattered. It was when and how he got them.

After an 11-3 run by Middlebury, Shapiro entered the game, and after a Craig Coupe lay-up, converted a three-point play to tie the game at 20 apiece, slowing down the Panthers' momentum.

And with the final seconds ticking off the clock in the first half and the Jumbos down 39-38, Shapiro calmly stepped about a foot behind the three-point line and drained a trey to give Tufts a two-point lead going into the break.

"It's funny because when I called him I said, 'Shap, make some threes and open up the game.' And he did at the beginning, he made some," coach Bob Sheldon said. "And then the second half he said to me, 'Coach, put me in I'll make another one.'"

Shapiro lived up to his word. Just over eight minutes into the second half, with Tufts holding on to a tenuous one-point lead, it was once again Shapiro who stood up to lift his team on his shoulders.

Standing about three feet behind the arc, Shapiro gave a quick fake, stared straight at his defender, and nonchalantly nailed a three to put his team up by four.

After a Middlebury miss, not more than 30 seconds later, Shapiro again received the ball a solid three feet behind the three point line. And as if to tell Middlebury, "not today, not in my gym, not to my team," Shapiro threw up an impossible, off-balance shot with a hand in his face and every law of physics acting against him, and drained it. Game, set, match. Middlebury never came closer than six for the rest of the game.

Shapiro added one more three-ball with 3:58 left to play that put Tufts up by 11, and further diminished Middlebury's rapidly dissipating hopes.

The game featured Shapiro at his best: nailing impossible shots that most people would not even consider taking in a video game, let alone on an actual court, in an actual game, that was actually the most important one of the season. They are what Sheldon calls "classic Shapiro shots." And when he starts hitting them, he doesn't really miss.

"He comes off the bench and he's just instant offense," senior Mike McGlynn said. "He gives us a spark when he comes in. He'll shoot it anywhere over half court, and when he gets going he's not going miss, so when he gets hot, you should get him the ball."

Yesterday, when it was most important, he had one of those days. It was raw talent on display, combined with a strong will to win. And in both categories, there aren't many players better than Shapiro.

"It hasn't happened that much this year, so it was nice to finally do that again," Shapiro said. "It doesn't happen very often, so it's good that it happened today rather than in some game that doesn't matter. I'm not really playing as much as I used to, so it's nice to do well for the team."

After a senior season that has not always gone his way, it could not have been much sweeter.

"It was nice to see. He's such a competitor and he's made big shots for us over the years. And those were big shots," Sheldon said. "It's nice that as a senior, after this year hasn't really gone as well as he wanted, and then to step up and be able to do that. It makes you feel good about him as a person."