Men suffer second conference loss

Bates freshman Zak Ray stunned the men's basketball team and silenced a raucous Cousens Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, when his desperation three from just inside half court found the bottom of the net.

With the score tied 62-62, and 2.9 seconds remaining, Ray caught the inbounds pass and headed up court. He pulled up midway between the three point line and half court and hit the shot every kid dreams of, leaving Tufts with its second NESCAC loss, while Bates erupted in celebration.

"It was just like blank," junior Andrew Kaklamanos said. "I couldn't move. I was waiting for the refs to call it off."

Ray's shot negated a game tying bucket by sophomore Scott Armstrong that knotted the score at 62 with 2.9 seconds to go.

The loss dropped the Jumbos to 4-11 (1-2 NESCAC), and puts them alone in seventh place in the conference. Bates, meanwhile, improved to 3-0 in the NESCAC, tied with Williams for first place.

Although the end of the game was gut wrenchingly close, the Jumbos trailed for much of the first half, going down by as many as 11 points midway through the period. After a run late in the half, junior guard Jesse Belodoff's three point buzzer-beater had the Jumbos down just one point going into halftime.

The true drama, however, was yet to come.

Down 62-58 late in the game, senior co-captain Deyvehn East drew a foul from Bates' leading scorer, Ramon Garcia. Entering the game, East was shooting only 61.5 percent from the line, but was able to calmly sink the front and back end of the one-and-one, cutting Bates' lead to 62-60.

Tufts remained two points down with Bates retaining possession after a missed jumper by junior forward Reggie Stovell. Tufts opted not to foul and instead focused on getting a stop because the 35-second shot clock almost guaranteed them another possession with 20 seconds left.

The plan worked, as the Jumbos forced a bad shot and got the ball back with 20 seconds to go. After bringing the ball up court and finding no immediate options, coach Bob Sheldon opted to take a timeout with six seconds remaining in regulation.

"If Deyvehn wasn't open to shoot the three, we wanted Scott (Armstrong) to go to the basket," Sheldon said.

Off the inbounds play, senior co-captain Eric Mack looked for East, who came off a double screen. East was covered, however, so he turned to his second option, Armstrong. With his back to the basket on the post, Armstrong faked right, turned left, and threw up a shot that rattled home.

"I had to spin middle," Armstrong said. "I got it up; thank God it got in."

Armstrong's basket tied the game at 62 all. With 2.9 seconds remaining on the clock, Bates needed a prayer to stay out of overtime.

"We wanted to make them make an impossible shot," Sheldon said.

After catching the inbounds pass at about one-third court, Ray turned up court with Mack covering him the entire way. Cautious not to foul the point guard, Mack let Ray pull up from midway between half court and the three point line on the far right of the court to attempt a nearly impossible game-winning shot.

"You want to play smart and give him room," Mack said. "He said to me, 'this is a great game,' right before he caught it and shot the three."

While the loss was heartbreaking, there were some positives for Tufts in the game. Some players who had been playing minutes here and there, proved their worth by making big plays.

Coming into the contest, freshman forward Brian Kumf only averaged 12.8 minutes per game. On Saturday, however, he played 23 minutes and was the catalyst for the energetic home crowd with his two handed dunk, which also drew a foul.

"I just saw the hoop," Kumf said. "I was so pumped I just wanted to put it down."

The freshman finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Also putting in yeoman's work was Kaklamanos, who began the season in the starting lineup, but has been working as a reserve in the team's last seven games. Kaklamanos had a meeting with the coaching staff in which they told him to just go out there and play and to not worry about making mistakes.

The junior scored 12 points in 14 minutes, including three three-pointers.

Although the Jumbos are now 4-11, the team feels its tough play against a solid team like Bates shows that it can compete with any team in the league.

"We're real young, things are coming together now," Kumf said. "We're forming an identity."

Along with the game came home court advantage, which greatly played into Tufts' favor. Whether it was fans heckling Bates forward Rob Stockwell or simply screaming when Zak Ray touched the ball, Cousens gymnasium quickly became a tough place to play.

"Having such devoted fans cheering for the Jumbos was an integral part of the game," freshman guard Walter Baddoo said. "With that type of energy, we'll definitely do well in the future."