MEDFORD, MASS.— Tufts (21-4, 8-2 NESCAC) got out to a hot start this afternoon, shooting 5-for-6 from distance in the first seven minutes of play. These 15 points from long range, as well as two layups and a dunk, netted the Jumbos 21 points in this first stretch, a pace that would have given them a staggering 120 points by the end of the game.
Tufts was bound to cool down on the offensive end, but it was up to Williams (15-10, 4-6) to find some rhythm of their own. The score was 21-7 Tufts at 13:00, with Williams' only points coming from
Aidan Yates (short hook and 3pt) and
Sammy Cooley (FTs).
The Jumbos kept pushing, with their leading scorer James Morakis climbing into double digits with a layup. The key for the Ephs was
Alex Lee, who carried the scoring burden, keeping the Ephs in the game.
Lee leads the Ephs in scoring with 12.8 a game, but had been quiet in two out of the last three games, scoring 5 against Bowdoin and 4 against Amherst. Today, he scored his second-best of the season, netting 23 points to lead all scorers.
At 9:10, Lee pulled up on the right side of the arc, a couple steps from the line, and nailed a triple to bring the Ephs into double digit scoring. On the next trip down, he caught a pass from
Declan Porter on a right corner pick-and-roll, and went up strong, drawing a foul, and making both shots.
Dylan Reilly got hot, making his second and third three to maintain a perfect 100% 3pt on the afternoon.
Hudson Hansen and Scott Gyimesi traded buckets down low. After Reilly's third three, a heat check sprinting off a down screen, the score was looking dire, 33-15 in favor of the Jumbos.
The Ephs took a timeout to regroup, and after they emerged from the huddle it looked like a totally different ball game. Through the end of the half, Williams went on a 22-5 run, limiting the Jumbos to a James Morakis three and a Scott Gyimesi jumper.
"I just settled the guys down, reminded them it's a long game and that they'd hit some shots that we said in the game plan we were willing to live with them shooting," said Eph head coach
Kevin App. "We reminded our guys not to overreact and then to execute a little bit on the offensive end. Then we went on a run, which was good to see, and I'm proud of our guys because sometimes this year we hadn't been able to do that. I thought our guys picked up the intensity defensively instead of getting passive, so that was good to see too."
Yates and Lee put in a pair of threes.
Brandon Roughley got downhill for a layup and-one.
Hudson Hansen was the beneficiary of a technical foul, making both of his at the line. Then, it was all
Alex Lee.
A three, a foul on the three point attempt for 3/3 at the line, a midrange, and two bonus shots gave Lee 18 points at the end of the half. Once on the wrong side of an 18-point gap, the Ephs were now only separated from the Jumbos by two points, 38-36.
The start of the final period wasn't as one-sided. Through the first ten minutes of the half, Williams scored 23 to Tufts' 15.
Having made four big triples to end the first, the Ephs remained confident in their outside game.
Aidan Yates,
Brandon Roughley,
Isiaha Dickens,
Sammy Cooley, and Yates again put in a series of three-point shots to make up the bulk of the Ephs' 23.
Two of these sharpshooters, Yates and Cooley, also scored in the lane, and
Evan Glatzer and
Hudson Hansen finished short looks. The Jumbos' attack was also balanced, with five Tufts players getting on the score sheet.
Just as a single player had completely shifted the momentum of the game in the first half, Tufts offered their counter for
Alex Lee in Zion Watt. A sophomore, Watt is 9th in scoring for the Jumbos this season, but his offensive production was absolutely instrumental in today's result.
Though Watt has shot only 29% from distance on the season, down the stretch there was a period in which it looked like he couldn't miss if he tried. In four-and-a-half minutes, Watt stepped confidently into four threes, sinking them one after another.
James Morakis also drove into the paint for an and-one, and during this short stretch Williams was only able to score twice in the form of tough layups for
Hudson Hansen and
Noah Dinkins. After Watt's fourth triple swished through the net, a 6-point Williams lead had swung into a 5-point lead for Tufts.
Hudson Hansen got to the line, closing the gap to 3, but Watt's teammates wouldn't let his effort go unnoticed. From 5:00 to 2:30, the Jumbos went on a 9-0 run, scoring from long-range, midrange, and in the paint.
When
Alex Lee made a triple to stem the bleeding at 2:17, it was too late for the Ephs, who had fought so hard to get back into this game, now down 9 points. Tufts, who'd possessed the momentum at the beginning of today's matchup, finished the game with it, too.
Tufts scored three more, and Lee got his 22nd and 23rd points at the stripe. The final score was 80-70.
Lee led the Ephs with 23 and 4 assists.
Aidan Yates had 16.
Hudson Hansen had 10 points, 4 boards, and 4 blocks. The Jumbos were led by the quartet of James Morakis (18pt, 5reb), Scott Gyimesi (17pt, 14reb, 7ast), Dylan Reilly (15pts, 5-8 3pt, 3 ast), and Zion Watt (15pt, 5-7 3pt).
Today's game marks the end of the Ephs' season, and the final game for the seniors
Noah Dinkins,
Brandon Roughley,
Declan Porter, and
Evan Glatzer. These four Ephs will be sorely missed next season when Williams takes on the 24-game challenge once again.
"That's definitely the worst part when the season ends, no matter when it is," said coach App after the game. "Those four— I said this when we had our senior night— they've embodied what our program values, and what we're about on and off the court."
He continued, saying, "They all committed here in uncertain circumstances, trusted me, trusted the program, and really left their mark. They've all battled through injuries, and sacrificed a lot to make sure that the team was as good as it could be. They're great leaders, great people and we'll miss being on the basketball court with them every day, but we're very proud of what they've done."
Looking forward, App shared the team's outlook heading into the offseason. "We'll take a lot of great things from the season, and that'll be the message heading into the spring and summer. A lot of times, the seasons that you don't feel you won as many games as you want, you really don't know how successful that season is until the next year."
"That'll be the work and the messaging," he noted, continuing: "Let's prove how successful this season was by how we play, and the growth we show next year. We have a lot of returners that got experience, and hopefully we get a couple guys back healthy… you add another group to them and go from there. We'll definitely step away for a little bit and then come back and see how much we can learn from this year."
