Fifteen days after suffering a 29-point loss at the hands of the Amherst Lord Jeffs, the Tufts men's basketball team walked into LeFrak Gymnasium on Sunday looking for revenge.
Coming off a hard-fought battle to make their way into the NESCAC championship game, the resurgent Jumbos forced an overtime period in their matchup with the top-seeded Jeffs. They eventually fell short in the extra frame, as Amherst walked away with a 94-86 win.
Senior tri-captain Dan Martin turned in a double-double for Tufts with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore forward Jake Weitzen had a game-high 25 points of his own to lead the Jumbos.
But Amherst, with keen ball-handling and an offensive attack that fielded four scorers in double figures, pulled away in the end, winning a physical, emotionally-charged battle for the NESCAC crown.
The Lord Jeffs improved to 25-2 overall with the win and solidified their status as one of the nation's top Div. III teams.
"I see Amherst as a potential Final Four team," Tufts coach Bob Sheldon said. "They're deep and they're big. They can all play, they can all shoot, and they're all about six-foot-five."
Amherst junior forward Dan Wheeler led the way with 24 points and senior co-captain John Bedford added 23. The sharp-shooting Jeffs were quiet from three-point land for much of the game, only really unleashing their long-range shots in the second half, including the shot from senior John Casnocha with 30 seconds remaining that erased a one-point Tufts lead.
The Lord Jeffs got some help from Tufts fouls, as they hit 26 of 36 from the free throw line. In the end, their offensive attack was too much for the Jumbos to handle.
"They're really athletic, and they have very good shooters," Weitzen said. "It's a very creative offense - they have a bunch of different options."
The Jumbos, however, were in control of the game for much of the first half. A Weitzen lay-up with 10:59 remaining in the half gave Tufts an early 11-point lead, 24-13. Weitzen finished the half with 13 points, and sophomore guard Jeremy Black added 10 of his career-high 17. Black also added eight rebounds and eight assists in the game.
The teams headed to the locker room at halftime tied at 37, and the lead would go back and forth throughout the early minutes of the second half. Tufts began to pull away again, however, widening its lead to seven on a Martin lay-up with 8:53 left, 62-55.
The Jeffs engineered another comeback in the final minutes. Casnocha's NBA-distance 27-foot three-pointer as the shot clock wound down gave Amherst a 79-77 lead, and the Jeffs threatened to steal the game away in the final seconds.
But Tufts sophomore guard Ryan O'Keefe responded with a lay-up with 17 seconds left. He scored only four points on the day, but these crucial two tied up the game for the Jumbos and forced the overtime period.
In the extra session, it was all Amherst. The Jeffs scored the first seven points of the period and never looked back, cruising to a 94-86 win. Casnocha finished the game with 14 points, and sophomore point guard Andrew Olson added 10.
This loss, while heartbreaking for the Tufts squad, came on the heels of a thrilling overtime win over Trinity in Saturday's NESCAC semifinal game. Tufts built up a big lead early against the Bantams, and led by margins of 43-26 at halftime and 51-30 early in the second half.
Trinity junior guard Patrick Martin, who had 24 points on the afternoon, led the Bantams back into the game. Senior co-captain Tyler Rhoten scored 14 points as well, but when he fouled out with 2:25 left in the game, the Jumbos took over.
Junior tri-captain Dave Shepherd, as he has done several times this year, saved the game for Tufts with a game-tying lay-up to close regulation. The score was tied at 70 going into the extra session, but the Jumbos dominated in overtime, outscoring the Bantams 18-5 to finish with an 88-75 win. Shepherd led the Jumbos with 22 points, while Weitzen added 21 and O'Keefe chipped in 19.
With the split of the two challenging NESCAC matchups, the Jumbos have assured themselves a spot in the Div. III NCAA tournament, and the Jumbos are upbeat about their chances in the tournament.
"The NESCAC is a really strong conference," Weitzen said. "In the other conferences, there are a lot of teams that we should be able to take care of."
The fact that Tufts turned a 29-point trouncing against Amherst into an overtime nail-biter in just two weeks is a testament to the progress the team has made in recent weeks.
"We had heard all the hype about Amherst the first time," Martin said. "This time, we went out there thinking we could really play with them."
This turnaround is reflected in the team's attitudes facing its first NCAA Tournament appearance in almost a decade.
"We just took a Final Four-caliber team into overtime," an enthusiastic Sheldon said. "I think we can play with anyone in America.
