For the second straight Tuesday night, the men's basketball team found itself holding a slim lead with under a minute to play. And for the second straight Tuesday night, the Jumbos couldn't hold on, this time losing 64-63 at Plymouth State.
A pair of free throws by senior tri-captain Dan Cook gave Tufts a 63-59 edge with 20 seconds to play, seemingly icing the game. Plymouth State, however, had other ideas.
The Panthers went on to score five points in the final 20 seconds on a three-pointer by senior Mike Chergey and two free throws by fellow senior Eric Hondal, which, sandwiched around a Tufts turnover, turned a 63-59 Tufts lead into a 64-63 Plymouth State victory.
"They came down, there was a miscommunication on what should have been a switch, so that cut the lead to one with about eight seconds left," senior tri-captain Jon Pierce said. "We called timeout, and I was taking the ball out of bounds and I couldn't find anyone open and I turned to call timeout, and the ball just slipped out of my hands and right to one of the Plymouth State players."
"It was pretty disappointing," senior Dave Beyel added. "We felt like it was over, we felt like [Cook's free throws were] the dagger. They fought back pretty well. Losses like that are always worse than losing a game by 15 or 20 because you're there the whole way, and then all of a sudden it's just like, ‘What just happened?' It was tough."
After seeing a similar finish just a week ago against Lesley, when the Lynx hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to earn a 57-55 win, the Jumbos realize that improvements and adjustments must be made to ensure that late leads are protected.
"We have to get better at closing games out," Pierce said. "We're not playing mentally tough enough; we haven't made the right plays down the stretch. Up four with 20 seconds should be a guaranteed win for a team with this kind of experience. We have to refocus over break and make sure we come back in January with better mental fortitude."
Against Plymouth State, both teams struggled in the first half to find a rhythm offensively, with Tufts shooting just 30 percent and making only six field goals. The Jumbos held the Panthers to just 20.7 percent shooting from the field in the first half, though the four three-pointers gave the hosts a 24-20 lead at the break.
With Tufts' offensive struggles, it was the defense's play that kept the team in the game — a common theme for the Jumbos this season. Tufts is allowing just 63.9 points per game, a large improvement over last year when the team allowed an average of 79.2 points and struggled to get stops when they were desperately needed.
"We've put a lot more emphasis on playing defense, and we've worked a lot on help-side defense," Beyel said. "In the past, everyone was concerned with not getting beat one-on-one. Playing defense against some small, quick guards, it's difficult to not get beat. Now, we're emphasizing if you get beat, don't worry about it, your teammates will be there to take the charge and get the block, and you need to rotate back and help cover for them. It's been great so far this season."
In the second half, Tufts was able to find more consistency on the offensive end, especially during a 12-0 run that turned a 10-point deficit into a 45-43 lead
"We made some adjustments," Pierce said. "We made a commitment to get the ball down low. I was fighting for position and guys were looking for me, and that opened some stuff up on the outside. That led to a scramble to cover me, and that got some open jump shots for our wings and our guards, and guys were able to knock them down."
After the run ended, the game was back and forth until the eventful final minute.
During the aforementioned spurt, the Jumbos got five points and two assists from freshman Scott Anderson, who has provided a spark off the bench so far this season. The 6-foot-7 forward had 11 points and eight rebounds in the game, and he is the Jumbos' third-leading scorer and rebounder — averaging 8.4 and 4.5, respectively — in just under 20 minutes per game. His impact has certainly not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
"He's been great," Pierce said. "Coming in as a freshman is always tough. The toughest part is mentally adjusting from high school to college basketball. He's come in and done the little things we've asked, and he's given us a scoring punch. I'm very excited for him and the contributions he's going to make in the future."
"He's a real physical kid and he's pushing kids around in practice, so he's already ahead of the game there," Beyel said. "He's got a bright future. He's got an inside game, and he can shoot the three. He's a different look from our other bigs, and Scott brings a different aspect to the game that really compliments what we have."
Even with the addition of Anderson, the Jumbos have still struggled so far this season to find their identity offensively, something that over the past few years never seemed to be a problem. The team is averaging just 62.9 points per game, unusual for a squad that over the years has generally scored close to 80 per game and hasn't averaged less than 70 since the 2003-04 season. On Tuesday, Beyel led all scorers with 20 points, including four three-pointers, while Pierce added 14 points and eight rebounds in the loss, which dropped the Jumbos to 2-6 on the season.
"We just have been having issues scoring, which hasn't been a problem in my four years here," Beyel said. "We're putting so much emphasis on our defense that on offense, we're not playing, we're thinking too much. The big possessions we don't really get what we need, and it's just a couple things that really add up during the game."
Tufts will have to deal with this loss for some time, as the game was the last in 2009 for the Jumbos. They will return to action on Jan. 5 against MIT.
