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Next Game: at Trinity College (Conn.) 2/1/2025 | 3:00 PM Feb. 01 (Sat) / 3:00 PM at Trinity College (Conn.) History MIDDLETOWN, CT (January 31, 2025) — The No. 9 Tufts University men’s basketball team led by three with 5:46 to play at No. 1 Wesleyan University Friday, but scored just four points down the stretch […]

Next Game:
at Trinity College (Conn.)
2/1/2025 | 3:00 PM

Feb. 01 (Sat) / 3:00 PM

at Trinity College (Conn.)

History

MIDDLETOWN, CT (January 31, 2025) — The No. 9 Tufts University men’s basketball team led by three with 5:46 to play at No. 1 Wesleyan University Friday, but scored just four points down the stretch as the Cardinals came back to earn a 69-66 win over the Jumbos in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action from Silloway Gymnasium. The Cardinals offense went nearly six minutes without a field goal before Fritz Hauser hit a three with less than eight minutes left to get the crowd back into the game. The Jumbos continued to lead all the way until the 1:40 mark of the contest when Regan hit a jumper to make it 62-61 Wesleyan. The atmosphere was raucous all night, but it didn’t affect the Jumbos in the start as the visitors jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead four minutes into the game following a triple from sophomore Dylan Reilly. Wesleyan would respond with seven straight points to tie the game at nine, the second of nine total tie scores throughout the contest. Wesleyan would take its largest lead of the first half at 22-17 after a three from Zach Wolinski, but Tufts came right back with a 12-2 run to take a five-point edge at 31-26 after a bucket from Joshua Bernstein. Tufts drops to 17-3 overall on the season, suffering its first NESCAC loss ot the year to drop to 5-1 in the league. Wesleyan is now 20-0 on the season, improving to 6-0 in NESCAC action. Regan had a game-high 23 points for Wesleyan, which shot 23 free throws for the game to just the eight from Tufts. Wesleyan was 18-of-23 (78.3 percent) at the charity stripe. The Jumbos will look to shake off Friday’s defeat on Saturday, taking on No. 16 Trinity College in Hartford, CT at 3 p.m. in more NESCAC action.
Morakis was Tufts’ leading scorer with 19 points and four rebounds, going 8-of-12 from the floor. Reilly added 12 points on four made triples, and Scott Gyimesi finished with nine points and six rebounds. Bernstein also had a strong game with eight points, seven boards, three steals and a block before fouling out. Jon Medley added six assists, six points and seven rebounds for the Jumbos, while sophomore Zion Watt had six points off the bench for Tufts. The Jumbos shot 46.6 percent from the field (27-58) for the game, but committed 13 turnovers which turned into a 16-6 lead for Wesleyan in points off giveaways.
–JUMBOS–After halftime Tufts continued to lead until a three-pointer by Johnson gave Wesleyan a 41-40 lead four minutes into the second half. The two teams batted the lead back-and-forth for the next eight minutes until the Jumbos scored five consecutive points to make it 56-51 after a bucket from Morakis. Tufts would go 3:40 without a score before Morakis stopped the stretch with 15 seconds to play to make it 66-63. After a free throw by Wesleyan, Reilly hit another three-pointer to make it a one-point game with three seconds to go. Regan would make both for the Cardinals, and a last second have from the Jumbos ringed off the rim and out. The Jumbos would lead by as many as six late in the first half, eventually taking a 36-32 lead into the halftime locker room. Junior James Morakis was Tufts’ leading scorer in the first half with 13 points, while Shane Regan and Nicky Johnson each had 10 for the Cardinals. Tufts also held a 9-0 fast break point lead over the opening 20 minutes.

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