Sandwiched between two weekends of NESCAC play, the Tufts men's and women's basketball teams squared off against regional foes in non'minus;conference matchups Tuesday night. And heading into a crucial slate this weekend, both Jumbos squads emerged victorious.
On the men's side, senior Dave Beyel poured in a game'minus;high 21 points on 8'minus;for'minus;9 shooting from the charity stripe and eight rebounds to lead Tufts to a 77'minus;67 win against Wheaton on the road. The Lyons, who on Saturday shocked then'minus;undefeated national No. 8 MIT, fell victim to the Jumbos' frontcourt.
In addition to Beyel, senior tri'minus;captain Jon Pierce added 15 points, including nine from beyond the arc, while freshman Scott Anderson tacked on 16 points on 5'minus;for'minus;9 shooting from the field. Pierce and Anderson each had seven rebounds.
As a team, the Jumbos shot 42.9 percent from the field, including 9'minus;for'minus;22 from three'minus;point range. Though Tufts got just nine bench points, 16 combined points from starters Alex Goldfarb and Dan Cook and 16 team offensive rebounds was enough to put the Lyons away.
With 4:03 left in the first quarter, the Jumbos opened up a 14'minus;point lead and coasted to their largest offensive output since a 91'minus;79 win over Keene State on Dec. 3, 2009. After Saturday's NESCAC win against Bowdoin, Tufts (5'minus;12) took its fifth game this year and posted its second winning streak of the year heading into this weekend's games with Wesleyan and Conn. College.
The women's basketball team took a 59'minus;49 victory at home against Emerson College, winning its fourth in a row and remaining undefeated at Cousens Gym on the year. The Jumbos opened up a 13'minus;point halftime lead and, despite losing the second half by three points, comfortably pushed their season record to 15'minus;2.
Against the 8'minus;9 Lions, senior Julia Baily backed up her recent NESCAC Player of the Week honor, her second of the season, with 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Tiffany Kornegay contributed a team'minus;high 16 points, while senior tri'minus;captain Vanessa Miller added seven points and five steals. Junior tri'minus;captain Colleen Hart continued her cold shooting, going just 1'minus;for'minus;12 from the field but ending up with three assists, directing the Jumbos' offense in 38 minutes on the floor.
National No. 12 Tufts will next be in action this weekend when it hits the road to play Wesleyan and Conn. College, who are a combined 1'minus;7 in NESCAC play thus far.
