Men's Basketball|For the first time in 2008-09, young Jumbo squad rattles off three consecutive wins

    For most people in the greater Boston area, the past month has been defined by snowy skies, icy winds and overall frigid weather. But for the men's basketball team, things were just starting to heat up. After losing its first two games following the last day of classes on Dec. 8, including a Dec. 9 defeat at the University of New England, Tufts went on a three-game winning streak — their longest of the year — starting with a victory over Cal Lutheran on Jan. 3.
    Having traveled to California for the SCIAC Classic, the Jumbos dropped their first game at La Verne by a score of 85-72. Tufts rebounded the next day against the Kingsmen, recording a 74-69 victory that several Jumbos identified as their most important game over break.
    "It was a big team win," junior Dave Beyel said. "It wasn't any one person; everybody played well. Guys came off the bench and did their jobs. I think we came together and played together as a team. Everybody came out and did what they needed to do. Hopefully we can finish that way the rest of the year."
    "To come out on Saturday and beat what is a really good team — they were in the NCAA tournament last year and will be this year — was big," junior co-captain Jon Pierce said. "To come out and beat them they way we did, with everybody contributing on both ends of the floor, that set the tone for the run that we just went on."
    Trailing 68-66 with 3:58 remaining, the Jumbos held their opponent scoreless for the next 3:16 while going on a 6-0 run to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Four Jumbos scored in double digits, led by 17 from Pierce, as Tufts shot 60.9 percent from the field compared to 42.1 percent for the Kingsmen.    
    On January 6th at Western New England College, Tufts recorded another impressive victory, this time by a score of 64-50. The 14-point margin was the team's third highest margin of victory of the year, and the Golden Bears' 50 points was the lowest figure allowed by the Jumbos this season. Pierce paced the team with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Beyel also contributed 15 and seven.
    The streak culminated in a 73-67 victory over UMass Boston at home last Thursday. The Jumbos led 70-48 with 4:25 left in the game, and while UMass went on an impressive 17-0 run to bring the score to 70-65 with 15 seconds to play, it was too little too late, as Tufts nailed final-second free throws to secure the win.
    Pierce did not have his best game, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds, but the Jumbos played well as a team. Beyel recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while classmate Tom Selby pulled down 14 boards of his own, including nine on the offensive end. Senior co-captain Aaron Gallant led the team with 21 points and sophomore Matt Galvin did
a good job distributing, tallying 10 assists against only three turnovers.
    "It felt good," Pierce said.     "The three games we won in a row, we were getting stops, taking care of the basketball, and people were stepping up everywhere on offense. That's what's going to make us a good basketball team."