It was a tale of two halves.
Despite jumping out to a 45-36 halftime lead and widening it to 11 to open the second half, the men's basketball team fell to the Brandeis Judges yesterday, 99-89, in a non-conference affair in Waltham, Mass.
The undefeated Judges improved to 4-0 by winning in comeback fashion, eclipsing the early deficit behind 18 second-half points from junior guard Joe Coppens. The win brought revenge for the Judges, who were bested by Tufts in an overtime thriller a year ago in Medford.
Brandeis, which competes in the inter-regional University Athletic Association with opponents as scattered as New York University and the University of Chicago, has been dominant in its four wins this season, winning by an average margin of 22 points. Tufts gave the Judges the toughest challenge they had seen this season, but it wasn't enough.
The Jumbos, who fell to 2-2 with the loss, held a halftime lead for the first time this season but fell victim to the sharp-shooting Judges, who sank 69 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half. Brandeis was led on the day by junior tri-captain and big man Steve DeLuca and freshman forward Terrell Hollins, who poured in 21 points each on the afternoon.
Brandeis scored 63 points in the second half and was able to get to the foul line 39 times, while Tufts only managed 13 trips to the charity stripe. A pair of Tufts forwards, junior tri-captain Brian Kumf and sophomore Jon Pierce, found themselves in foul trouble due to some controversial officiating calls and were forced to spend most of the second half on the bench.
"There were some bad calls, but I don't think it is why we lost," Kumf. "We had an overall letdown in our focus, and we didn't do the little things."
Despite the forwards spending most of the game in foul trouble, Tufts was led once again by Pierce's 21 points. Junior guard Ryan O'Keefe and forward Jake Weitzen chipped in 16 and 14 points, respectively, and senior tri-captain Dave Shepherd added 11 while also dishing out a season-high 11 assists.
The problems for the Jumbos yesterday came on defense. With the 99 points the Judges scored yesterday, teams are averaging 84 points per game against Tufts so far this season, an uncomfortably high number. Hollins consistently attacked the Jumbo big men, something the 6'9" presence of former center Dan Martin (LA '06) seemed to deter.
"In the past, we had [Martin] down there, and teams didn't go down low as much," coach Bob Sheldon said. "Right now, we just need somebody down there to step in and take charge."
In the end, Tufts simply couldn't stop Brandeis' balanced scoring attack - or make up for the team's 24 turnovers on the day.
The Jumbos headed to Waltham coming off of a non-conference road victory against Western New England College on Tuesday.
Pierce was again the main scoring threat in that game, scoring all 20 of his points in the second half and leading Tufts to a 70-62 win. That affair was also a tale of two halves, but with the Jumbos playing the role of the come-from-behind victors. After shooting just 22 percent from the floor and scoring 23 points in the first half, Tufts exploded in the second half and cruised to their second win of the year.
Weitzen and O'Keefe each scored 11 for the Jumbos, while Shepherd added 10. Pierce led all rebounders in the game with 12, and the Jumbos overcame a 9-to-18 assist-to-turnover ratio to cruise in the second half.
Tufts returns to action Tuesday night when it takes on Springfield College at Cousens Gym. Despite an ugly showing against Brandeis, the team is optimistic and ready for its upcoming non-conference games.
"It's only been four games, but we know we can play better," Kumf said. "I think we can fix the mistakes we have been making."
