Tufts led 57-48 at the half and never trailed in the second half. The Jumbos maintained a slim lead that only grew as large as eight points. The Panthers forged an 87-87 tie on a huge three-pointer by junior guard Mark Dunham (Salem, NH) with 50 seconds left in regulation. Tufts regained the lead at 89-87 on a lay-up by sophomore guard David Shepherd (Grantham, NH) with 32 seconds on the clock. Pelotte was then fouled with 16 seconds to go, hit the first to slice the margin to one (89-88), missed the second, but got his own rebound after the ball was knocked around. Following a time-out, Plymouth sophomore Andreas Pope (Brooklyn, NY) was fouled and missed the first free throw, but hit the second to tie the score at 89-89 with nine seconds to go. Shepherd’s straight-away three-pointer at the buzzer was no good and the game went to overtime.
Neither team shot well in the OT period. The Jumbos took a 92-89 lead early, but Pelotte scored the next four points on two free throws and a lay-up for a 93-92 Plymouth lead with 28 seconds left. Pope was fouled grabbing the rebound on a Tufts miss and hit two free throws at the other end for a 95-92 lead with 11 seconds to go. Another Tufts miss and foul put Pelotte at the line. He missed his second shot, leading to a Tufts lay-up by Shepherd that cut the Plymouth lead to 96-94 with three seconds remaining. After a Tufts time-out, Plymouth in-bounded the ball to Pelotte, he was immediately fouled, and he hit both free throws with 1.3 seconds left to seal the win. Good thing he hit both, because Jumbo senior Drew Kaklamanos’ (Jupiter, FL) half-court shot at the buzzer went in for the 98-97 final.
Pelotte had 23 at the half, but Tufts closed the period with a 10-2 run to build its largest lead of the game at halftime. The Jumbos were looking for a measure of revenge after losing by 35 (91-56) to the Panthers in New Hampshire last season. They had more points at the half (57) than they scored in the entire game last year, but ultimately would not make their shots to pull out the win in the end.
Pelotte shot 12 for 21 overall, four for six from three-point territory and 12 for 18 from the line to reach 40 points. He also finished with seven rebounds and four assists. Pope was a big second-man for the Panthers, recording 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Tufts had six players score in double-figures, led by 17 points from Kaklamanos. Sophomore Brian Kumf (Milford, MA) with 16 and 10, senior Reggie Stovell (Washington, DC) with 14 and 11, and junior Dan Martin (Sandwich, MA) with 11 and 10 all had double-doubles.
The teams shot the lights out in the first half, with Plymouth hitting 63 percent (17/27) and trailing by nine. Tufts was at 56.3 percent (18/32) and both squads had seven three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Both went downhill from there with neither finishing over 50 percent.
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Newspaper Box Score Plymouth State Panthers vs Tufts Jumbos 12/7/04 7:00 pm at Medford, MA At Medford, MA PLYMOUTH STATE PANTHERS 98, TUFTS JUMBOS 97 PLYMOUTH STATE PANTHERS (4-3) Nick Pelotte 12-21 12-18 40; Andreas Pope 8-12 9-10 25; Mike Walcek 3-8 4-4 12; Mark Dunham 3-9 0-0 9; Jay Boyle 1-1 1-2 4; Kevin Boutilier 2-7 0-0 4; Charles Gaddy 1-1 0-0 2; Devin Ruocco 1-1 0-0 2; Andy Cary 0-1 0-0 0; Peter Hutchins 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 26-34 98. TUFTS JUMBOS (4-4) Drew Kaklamanos 6-13 0-0 17; Jake Weitzen 7-15 1-1 16; Brian Kumf 5-13 6-9 16; Reggie Stovell 3-14 8-10 14; Ryan O'Keefe 4-8 2-2 12; Dan Martin 5-9 1-2 11; David Shepherd 4-6 0-0 9; Brian Fitzgerald 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 35-80 18-24 97. Plymouth State Panthers....... 48 41 9 - 98 Tufts Jumbos.................. 57 32 8 - 97 3-point goals-Plymouth State Panthers 10-19 (Nick Pelotte 4-6; Mark Dunham 3-7; Mike Walcek 2-4; Jay Boyle 1-1; Peter Hutchins 0-1), Tufts Jumbos 9-23 (Drew Kaklamanos 5-11; Ryan O'Keefe 2-5; David Shepherd 1-3; Jake Weitzen 1-3; Reggie Stovell 0-1). Fouled out--Plymouth State Panthers-None, Tufts Jumbos-None. Rebounds-Plymouth State Panthers 41 (Andreas Pope 10), Tufts Jumbos 48 (Reggie Stovell 11). Assists-Plymouth State Panthers 13 (Peter Hutchins 6), Tufts Jumbos 19 (David Shepherd 5). Total fouls-Plymouth State Panthers 24, Tufts Jumbos 25. A-250