The Jumbos led for most of regulation as they fired a blistering 61.1% (33-for-54) from the field and dominated the Jeffs on the boards (38-24) in the first two frames. Senior Dan Martin (Sandwich, MA) and sophomores Jeremy Black (Jamesville, NY) and Jake Weitzen (New York, NY) did the majority of the damage canning 65.9% (27-for-41) of their attempts and combining for 65 points.
Tufts stormed out of the gates, hitting 12 of its first 15 tries and building an early 22-11 lead. While Tufts couldn’t miss, the Jeffs struggled, knocking down just two of their first nine shots, and allowing the Jumbos to control both the tempo and the scoreboard. The Amherst defense kept the Jeffs in the game, forcing 13 first-half turnovers and the offense finally hit its stride at the seven-minute mark as a steal by senior co-captain John Casnocha (San Francisco, CA) sparked a 14-2 run to give Amherst its first lead of the game, 33-31 at the 3:32-mark. Tufts righted the ship in the closing minutes and the two squads headed for the locker rooms deadlocked at 37-37.
The opening minutes of the second frame went back and forth as the game saw four ties and six lead changes over the first six minutes. An incredible hustle play by junior Dan Wheeler (Bloomington, MN) seemed to give the Jeffs an advantage as he tracked down an offensive board headed out of bounds, heaved it over his head into the middle of the court, where sophomore teammate Andrew Olson (San Diego, CA) hauled it in and swung it back to Wheeler for the three-ball. However, Tufts’ fiery shooting brought them out of the scrum on top as a jumper from first-year guard Aaron Gallant (Bangor, ME) gave the Jumbos a one-point edge, 52-51, at the 13:24-mark and they would continue to hold the lead for the next six minutes of play. Amherst stayed close, and a trifecta from Wheeler put the Jeffs back in the driver’s seat, 66-64. They held a slight advantage down the stretch, but Tufts managed to reknot the score at 74-74 with two minutes left in regulation. Weitzen and Wheeler traded a pair of free throws, and Martin hit the second of two shots at the stripe to give the Jumbos a one-point edge with just over a minute to go.
The following possession was long and hard-fought as the Tufts defenders stayed locked on the Jeffs and drained the shot clock down inside five seconds. After a tipped pass by Tufts, Olson secured the ball and fed Casnocha who calmly drained a 27-footer, igniting the home crowd and putting Amherst back in the lead, 79-77. Tufts quickly answered as sophomore Ryan O’Keefe (Everett, MA) knifed to the hole to tie the game back up, and Amherst senior co-captain John Beford’s (Ridgewood, NJ) last second leaner fell long to send the game into overtime.
The Jeffs never trailed in the extra session as a Casnocha putback opened a 7-0 flurry to start the frame. Black answered an Olson three with one of his own to cut the lead back to four, 86-82, but that was as close as the Jumbos would get as they shot only 22.2% (2-for-9) in overtime and the Jeffs cashed in several free throws to maintain the win.
Bedford finished with 23 points, surpassing former teammate Andrew Schiel ’05 and moving into seventh-place on the Amherst all-time scoring list (1,425 career points). Wheeler led the Jeffs and matched a career-high with 24 points and set a career-high with five assists, while Casnocha added 14 points, six boards and two blocks, Olson chipped in 10 points, four assists and four steals and sophomore Matt Goldsmith (Morristown, NJ) posted eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Weitzen had 25 points on 10-for-14 shooting and seven rebounds to pace Tufts, while Martin notched a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards and Black narrowly missed a triple-double with 17 points, eight caroms and eight helpers. Tufts fell to 21-6 with the loss and awaits word of a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Full NCAA Tournament brackets will be announced tomorrow (Monday) morning at 8 a.m. at http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens .
Official Basketball Box Score
Tufts University vs Amherst College
2/26/06 12 p.m. at Amherst, MA
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VISITORS: Tufts University 21-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 David Shepherd...... * 1-6 1-2 4-4 1 0 1 4 7 2 4 0 0 35
20 Ryan O'Keefe........ * 2-7 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 3 4 3 4 1 0 27
30 Brian Kumf.......... * 3-5 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 4 6 0 1 0 1 28
32 Dan Martin.......... * 10-15 0-0 3-6 2 8 10 4 23 1 4 0 0 30
50 Brian Fitzgerald.... * 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 3 0 0 1 2 1 26
1 Jason Grauer........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
2 Aaron Gallant....... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 10
3 Jeremy Black........ 7-12 1-4 2-2 3 5 8 3 17 8 2 0 2 34
31 Jake Weitzen........ 10-14 1-3 4-4 1 6 7 3 25 2 1 0 1 30
44 Pat Sullivan........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
TEAM................ 5 5 1
Totals.............. 35-63 3-11 13-19 9 30 39 25 86 16 19 3 5 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-29 58.6% 2nd Half: 16-25 64.0% OT: 2-9 22.2% Game: 55.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% OT: 1-3 33.3% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-13 69.2% OT: 2-2 100 % Game: 68.4% 2
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HOME TEAM: Amherst College 25-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 John Bedford........ * 7-14 1-2 8-11 0 5 5 3 23 1 3 1 1 42
33 John Casnocha....... * 5-11 1-4 3-4 3 3 6 2 14 1 1 2 1 33
34 Dan O'Shea.......... * 2-6 0-0 3-4 0 3 3 2 7 0 1 2 2 21
41 Dan Wheeler......... * 8-14 2-4 6-9 2 1 3 2 24 5 2 0 1 41
5 Andrew Olson........ * 3-7 1-2 3-3 0 1 1 1 10 4 1 0 4 35
15 Adolphe Coulibaly... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
20 Tim McLaughlin...... 2-5 1-2 1-2 0 2 2 4 6 2 0 0 1 16
21 Ray Corrigan........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 9
30 Matt Goldsmith...... 3-7 0-1 2-3 3 7 10 3 8 4 2 2 1 26
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 31-66 6-15 26-36 10 23 33 19 94 17 10 7 12 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-33 42.4% 2nd Half: 14-29 48.3% OT: 3-4 75.0% Game: 47.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 40.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-11 72.7% 2nd Half: 10-13 76.9% OT: 8-12 66.7% Game: 72.2% 5
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Officials: Mark Shea, Tim Mahoney, Dan Shepardson
Technical fouls: Tufts University-None. Amherst College-None.
Attendance: 800
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
Tufts University.............. 37 42 7 - 86
Amherst College............... 37 42 15 - 94