As far as weekends go, the men's basketball team's certainly won't forget Friday and Saturday anytime soon.
Playing in the Roger Williams University/Courtyard by Marriott Tournament, the Jumbos took home the tourney crown Saturday with an 89-74 victory over Western Conn. State University (WCSU). A mere 19 hours earlier, on Friday night, the squad notched its first win of the season, beating host Roger Williams by a score of 82-76 to give coach Bob Sheldon his 300th career victory as Tufts' coach.
"For us to really pull through and get that for him is huge," said junior co-captain forward Jon Pierce, who totaled 43 points and 26 rebounds over the weekend, good enough for Tournament MVP honors. "He played it off like it wasn't important, but a milestone like that for a coach is a big deal. I was glad that we got to be a part of that as a team."
After surrendering 90 points to Babson in its first game of the season, an overtime loss to the Beavers Tuesday, Tufts came into the weekend intent on improving its defensive intensity. In Saturday's game, the Jumbos did exactly that, holding WCSU to just 32.5 percent shooting, including 2-of-18 from three-point range.
"We challenged just about every shot this weekend; we tried not to give up any uncontested looks; we were always running at people -- and I think it showed up in the stats sheet how we performed," Pierce said.
Down 20-19 with 9:11 left in the first half, Tufts went on a 32-10 run to blow the game wide open and headed into the locker room with a 51-30 lead over the Colonials. Pierce said the outburst, while an impressive display of offense, was a result of the improved defensive play.
"[Sophomore point guard] Matt Galvin and [senior co-captain guard] Aaron Gallant did a really good job of containing their two perimeter players," Pierce said. "And they did a really good job of forcing them into the help. So when we made our big run it all started on the defensive end. [Junior forward Tom] Selby was blocking every shot in sight and when we had that help inside it really made our guard's jobs easier."
Seven Jumbos scored in the first half, including 12 points from Pierce, 11 from Gallant and eight from freshman forward James Long. After struggling to balance the offense on Tuesday night, Gallant was pleased to see the emergence of more scoring threats.
"It's nice to see guys like Galvin and [junior guard] Dave [Beyel] having big nights," Gallant said. "James, the young freshman, had a good night tonight. It's good to see everyone scoring and everyone contributing. I know the coaches and me and Jon as captains are pleased to see that."
When Tufts extended its lead to 27 points in the second half, WCSU trimmed its deficit down to 10 points with 4:19 remaining in the contest. But Tufts stiffened the defense and never allowed the lead to dip into single digits.
Pierce led all scorers with 22 points, while Gallant and Beyel both contributed 15. Tufts combated a sloppy offensive effort -- which included 28 turnovers -- by getting to the charity stripe and converting on 37 of 53 attempts.
Friday night the Jumbos took an early lead but watched it slowly slip away to the hosting Roger Williams University Hawks, who held the lead for much of the second half.
With the game tied at 66, Beyel scored the next five points and gave the Jumbos a lead they would never relinquish. Once again, the defense played a large role in keeping the Hawks at bay.
"We came down and we got four big stops in a row and converted on a few of those and we took the lead and we held it from there on," Gallant said. "We kept getting stops and getting some baskets. I think it was a testament to stepping up on defense and moving forward as a team."
As in Saturday's game, the Jumbos spread the wealth on the offensive end.
"It's a lot easier to stop one person instead of five people that are consistently scoring," Pierce said. "So we made a very conscious effort to get Dave Beyel involved, who played great and made the All-Tournament team. When we focus on getting other people shots it really opens up the floor."
Beyel led all scorers with 24 points, while Pierce and Gallant added 21 and 14, respectively. Galvin also chipped in nine assists.
For all the success over the weekend, Pierce and Gallant know there is plenty of room for improvement. Both noted that the number of turnovers has to decrease, while the focus on defense has to remain constant.
The Jumbos will have a full week free from competition to sort out these issues before they travel to Brandeis on Sunday.
"I'm confident that going in with a week of practice that we're going to be very prepared and confident that we're going to come out with another victory," Pierce said.
