Cousens Gymnasium has been good to the Jumbos this season, and the team will have one more chance to take advantage of its home court.
Despite splitting its weekend's NESCAC games, the men's basketball team earned the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament and the right to host a first-round game against No. 6 Williams.
The Jumbos' 84-80 overtime victory over Trinity on Friday night brought them within one win of the division title and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. But a crushing 99-70 loss to Amherst on Saturday landed the Jumbos in third place with a 6-3 record, dropping their overall record to 19-5. The loss also broke an eight-game winning streak for the Jumbos.
Both teams had a lot riding on Saturday's contest, as Tufts trailed Amherst by one game in the NESCAC standings. The winner was guaranteed first place in the conference and the stage was set for a pressure-packed battle for the No. 1 seed.
"You only get nine of these NESCAC games a season, so each one is so important as far as seedings for the conference tournament go," senior tri-captain Brian Fitzgerald said.
Despite the high pre-game tension, the matchup turned out to be an anti-climactic one. Amherst, ranked ninth nationally, jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead that it never relinquished. The Lord Jeffs' first-half lead reached as large as 20, and by the final buzzer, they walked away with a lopsided 29-point margin of victory.
As was the case throughout the season for Amherst, senior guard John Bedford and junior forward Dan Wheeler led the offensive charge with 29 and 19 points, respectively.
Senior tri-captain Dan Martin led all Jumbos in the game with 18 points, while sophomore guard Jeremy Black matched his career high with 13. Sophomore forward Jake Weitzen chipped in eight points of his own and added a team-leading five rebounds. After scoring 10 points in the first half, Tufts sophomore guard Ryan O'Keefe attempted only two shots after intermission, missing them both.
The Jumbos' play was marred by uncharacteristically sloppy ball-handling. They committed 21 turnovers, nearly three over their 18.4 average, and recorded only eight assists, less than half of their 16.8 per game average.
The loss at Amherst was part of a weekend double-header on the road, which began with a thrilling overtime victory over the Trinity Bantams. The game had 24 ties, including locks at 34 at halftime and 75 at the end of regulation. Both teams gained the lead nine times, but in the end, the Bantams could not overcome the Jumbos' aggressive offense.
Junior guard Kino Clarke carried the Bantams early in the contest, scoring 10 of his 15 points early in the first half. Trinity led by as many as five points, but Tufts recovered, and the teams headed to the locker room tied 34-34 at halftime.
The Tufts offensive attack came to life in the second half, with five players finishing in double figures. Weitzen had a team-high 19 points, while Martin and O'Keefe each dropped 15.
In the final seconds of regulation, with the Bantams leading 75-73, Trinity junior forward Michael Hoar blocked a lay-up attempt by Kumf, but Martin was there for the rebound and the final put-back as time expired.
Overtime was as evenly-matched as regulation, but an O'Keefe lay-up with 1:27 remaining provided the game-winning basket, finally putting the Jumbos up for good, 82-80.
Trinity topped off Bates on Saturday and finished second in the NESCAC at 7-2. Bates, with its third straight loss, dropped into a third place tie with Tufts. With the Jumbos' 91-76 win over the Bobcats last weekend at Cousens as the tiebreaker, Tufts earned the three-seed in the conference tournament.
The Jumbos will play Williams at Cousens Gymnasium in the first round of the playoffs. While Williams is coming off an 0-2 NESCAC weekend, dropping to Colby and Bowdoin, it is the only team this season to have beaten the Jumbos at home, where Tufts was10-1 in the regular season.
On Jan. 20, the sharp-shooting Ephs squad shocked Tufts with an 82-80 win, thanks in large part to their deadly three-point shooting. They finished with a total of 15 threes, including nine from sophomore duo Chris Rose and Chris Shalvoy.
The Jumbos hope they will be better-adjusted to the Ephs' style this time around.
"We now know their capabilities," Weitzen said. "We know they'll be shooting a lot, and we'll be ready for it."
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Amherst will take on Connecticut College, while Bates takes on Bowdoin in the four-versus-five matchup.
"Amherst is definitely the team to beat. They're the toughest team we've played all year, without comparison," Weitzen said.
