Home court proves sweet for men's basketball

In its home opener, the men's basketball team came alive during the second half to earn its second win of the year. Tufts defeated MIT 72-56, breaking the 70-point mark for the first time this season.

Tufts went into this game with something to prove, as the team had watched the beginning of its season start with a 1-3 slide in its first four contests.

Unfortunately for the Engineers, Tufts had a different game plan in mind. Despite a slow start, culminating in a 29-29 halftime score, the Jumbos took a run at the beginning of the second half and never looked back. A quick 15 minutes later and the Jumbos celebrated their second win of the season.

"MIT is a solid team with big guys and good shooters," coach Bob Sheldon said. "This was a good win for us, but we are a young team and each game we need to get better."

During the first half, the team was off, barely holding an unearned lead as the offense struggled to find the easy shots. However, when Tufts did put the ball up, they were successful 50 percent of the time.

At the same time the defense was holding MIT to only 46.4 percent, allowing them only three shots from behind the arc. This was part of Tufts game strategy, as in its previous time out, MIT took down Suffolk (69-57) with an assault from downtown, totaling 12 shots. Senior Andrew Tsai and sophomore Mike D'Auria combined for ten, making those two prime targets for the Jumbo D.

As the half progressed, the Jumbos continued to squander opportunities their defense provided for them, sometimes turning the ball over on three consecutive possessions before getting a shot off the ground.

In the second half a whole new squad arrived on the court. The offense was smooth instead of scrambling, and defensive gains were translating into points on the board.

"In the second half we came out with some real life," Sheldon said. "We played with passion and we played as a team."

Tufts began to make its run with about fifteen minutes left in the game. Making his presence felt for the first time, senior co-captain Deyvehn East hit his first of three three-pointers to increase Tufts lead 36-31. East put up big numbers all-around in the second, including a team high 17 points as well as six rebounds.

"I was able to see the matrix in the second half," East said. "Everyone was talking and we picked up the intensity."

MIT could not respond on its next possession allowing Tufts to increase its lead to seven after a jump shot by sophomore Blaine Lay. The 6'7" center proved to be trouble for the Engineers on both sides of the court, matching ten points with a notable 11 rebounds.

MIT got one jump shot before East answered with another three-pointer to give Tufts a 41-33. On the next go-around, he said goodnight to the Engineers, drawing a foul while finding the basket on a break to the inside. After making the subsequent free-throw, Tufts was now up by ten, a lead that would not diminish in the last ten minutes of the game.

"Deyvehn came back as the leader for the second half," Sheldon said.

As if the roles had reversed, the Jumbos were now forcing MIT to make the mistakes, often times pushing them to shot clock violations. Meanwhile, Tufts replaced its turnovers with baskets, holding itself to only five in the second half.

"During the half, I told them to make the easy pass and get better picks," Sheldon said.

Freshman David Shepherd was also on hand at the guard position to rev up the offense. He contributed 12 points to the win, as well as an energetic presence on the court to keep the offense moving.

"David [Shepherd] was a nice spark for us during the time he was on the court," Sheldon said.

Also notable was the turnaround in the Jumbos free-throwing percentage. The Brown and Blue entered the game shooting 50.5 percent from the stripe, but was 81.3 percent last night, including an impressive 9-10 during the second half.

Tufts coasted towards the end of the game, holding the score at 72-56 as the final seconds wound down.

"We picked it up on both defense and offense and we came together during the second half," East said. "This was a big win for us in terms of confidence. This win was all about chemistry."