Williams hit a remarkable 11 of 16 three-point attempts (68.8 percent) in the second half when they came back from a nine-point deficit. They finished the game 15 of 30 from three-land, including five by sophomore Chris Rose (Middletown, NY) and four by Shalvoy, who scored a game-high 24 points.
Tufts led by nine twice in the second half, including 60-51 with 12:23 remaining. They were able to hold the lead until Shalvoy hit a two from the corner to give the Ephs a 71-70 advantage at 4:23. It was the visitors’ first lead since 4-2 in the early-going.
The final five minutes were back-and-forth in front of a large Jumbo crowd that had just returned to campus following semester break. A three by Shalvoy gave the Ephs a 79-75 lead at 1:50, but two free throws by Tufts leader Dan Martin (Sandwich, MA) at 1:23 and a huge three-point play by Martin after Tufts grabbed two offensive rebounds gave the Jumbos an 80-79 lead with 28 seconds to play.
Williams called time out, set up Shalvoy’s shot, then he sank his fourth trifecta of the second half to give Williams the 82-80 edge. Tufts had time to get a last shot, but junior tri-captain David Shepherd’s (Grantham, MA) off-balance attempt was short and time ran out.
The Jumbos largely controlled play in the first half. They led by eight (21-13) on a jumper by sophomore Jeremy Black (Jamesville, NY) at the 12-minute mark. Williams cut the margin down to two twice, including 32-30 following a jumper by senior tri-captain Casey Gibbons (Weston, MA) at 6:32. A 13-5 Tufts run put the lead at 45-35 and the Jumbos led 46-37 heading into halftime. Sophomore Ryan O’Keefe (Everett, MA) had 12 points to lead Tufts at the break, while Rose scored 13 for Williams.
Tufts was again able to maintain a single-digit lead well into the second half. However, 11 of Williams’ 15 baskets in the second half were three-pointers and with that sharp-shooting the Ephs surged to their fourth straight win. Williams is now 14-3 overall and 3-0 in NESCAC. Shalvoy added five assists, five rebounds and four steals to his game. Rose finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Senior tri-captain Andrew Newton (Whitinsville, MA) had 13 points on 6 for 8 field goal shooting.
The Jumbos finished with five players scoring in double figures, led by 22 from Martin. He also had 11 rebounds. O’Keefe scored 14, Black had 11 with six assists and Shepherd had 10 with seven assists. After shooting 51.4 percent in the first half, Tufts slipped to 35.1 percent in the second. Tufts drops to 11-4 overall and 1-2 in NESCAC with their first back-to-back losses of the year.
#
WILLIAMS EPHS 82, TUFTS JUMBOS 80 WILLIAMS EPHS (14-3, 3-0 NESCAC) Chris Shalvoy 9-14 2-2 24; Chris Rose 6-16 2-3 19; Andrew Newton 6-8 1-2 13; Casey Gibbons 3-6 2-2 10; Brian Nelson 2-8 0-0 6; Kevin Snyder 2-3 0-0 6; Will Kuntz 2-3 0-0 4; Phil Wall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-59 7-9 82. TUFTS JUMBOS (11-4, 1-2 NESCAC) Dan Martin 8-19 6-7 22; Ryan O'Keefe 6-14 0-0 14; Jake Weitzen 5-11 0-0 11; Jeremy Black 4-9 0-0 11; David Shepherd 4-9 1-1 10; Jason Grauer 2-3 0-0 5; Brian Fitzgerald 1-3 2-2 5; Brian Kumf 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 31-72 9-10 80. Williams Ephs................. 37 45 - 82 Tufts Jumbos.................. 46 34 - 80 3-point goals-Williams Ephs 15-30 (Chris Rose 5-9; Chris Shalvoy 4-7; Casey Gibbons 2-4; Kevin Snyder 2-3; Brian Nelson 2-7), Tufts Jumbos 9-19 (Jeremy Black 3-6; Ryan O'Keefe 2-4; Jake Weitzen 1-2; Brian Fitzgerald 1-3; David Shepherd 1-3; Jason Grauer 1-1). Fouled out--Williams Ephs-None, Tufts Jumbos-Ryan O’Keefe. Rebounds-Williams Ephs 33 (Chris Rose 6), Tufts Jumbos 37 (Dan Martin 11). Assists-Williams Ephs 19 (Casey Gibbons 6), Tufts Jumbos 21 (David Shepherd 7). Total fouls-Williams Ephs 13, Tufts Jumbos 13. A-550