With the victory, Tufts moves on in the NCAAs to play the winner of Friday night's Cortland State versus UMass Boston first-round game on Saturday night at 7:00 PM. The win for the Jumbos ties the school record for victories in a season as they improved to 22-6. The 1972-73 Jumbos finished 22-4. Endicott College, coached by former Tufts assistant Chris Millette, finished its season with a 19-10 record.
The Jumbos shot 59 percent for the game (36/61), pounding the ball inside to Martin often and also getting a strong game from sophomore guard Ryan O'Keefe with 18 points. Five Tufts scorers finished in double-digits overall, with junior tri-captain David Shepherd scoring 12 and sophomore Jake Weitzen adding 10 points with seven assists. Tufts also won the battle of the boards, 39-28, with junior Brian Kumf registering a double-double with 10 rebounds to go with 10 points.
The Gulls were led by 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists from Matt George, while Zach Ellis had 15 points. The Gulls shot just 37.7 percent (20/53), including 3 for 16 (18.8 percent) from three-point territory. They earned a 17-6 advantage at the free throw line.
Tufts trailed just once in the game when Endicott opened with a hoop by Todd Burton (8 points) at 18:53. The Jumbos surged to a 17-8 lead following a lay-up by Martin at the 12-minute mark and Endicott called time out. The Jumbos would lead comfortably for the rest of the game. Endicott got it down to six points, 28-22, on a lay-up by George at 4:15, but the Tufts lead was 12 at the break 38-26. O'Keefe had 11 and Martin 10 at the break for Tufts while George scored 11 for Endicott.
The Jumbos led by double figures for the entire second half. The margin reached 20 points, 66-45, on Kumf's lay-up at 9:00. Tufts led by as many as 25 points, 83-58, on a jumper by Carl Onubogu (Brockton, MA) as Tufts coach Bob Sheldon was able to give the team's reserves some floor time in the NCAA Tournament.
The win is the second in NCAA Tournament play for the Jumbos, who evened their record at 2-2 in the tournament.
TUFTS UNIV. (MA) 83, ENDICOTT COLL. (MA) 60 ENDICOTT COLL. (MA) GEORGE, Matt 5-9 11-14 21; ELLIS, Zach 6-14 0-0 15; BURTON, Todd 3-6 2-2 8; SULLIVAN, Mike 3-7 0-0 6; MARINKOVIC, Nemania 2-10 0-1 4; CORBETT, Gary 1-3 0-0 2; MAYI, Francis 0-2 2-4 2; STEWART, Ross 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 17-27 60. TUFTS UNIV. (MA) Dan Martin 9-13 2-5 20; Ryan O'Keefe 8-13 0-0 18; David Shepherd 5-7 1-2 12; Brian Kumf 4-7 2-3 10; Jake Weitzen 4-9 1-1 10; Brian Fitzgerald 4-4 0-0 9; Jason Grauer 1-3 0-0 2; Carl Onubogu 1-1 0-0 2; Pat Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0; Jeremy Black 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 36-61 6-12 83. Endicott Coll. (MA)........... 26 34 - 60 Tufts Univ. (MA).............. 38 45 - 83 3-point goals-Endicott Coll. (MA) 3-16 (ELLIS, Zach 3-8; BURTON, Todd 0-1; MARINKOVIC, Nemania 0-2; CORBETT, Gary 0-2; STEWART, Ross 0-2; GEORGE, Matt 0-1), Tufts Univ. (MA) 5-14 (Ryan O'Keefe 2-4; Jake Weitzen 1-3; David Shepherd 1-2; Brian Fitzgerald 1-1; Pat Sullivan 0-1; Jeremy Black 0-2; Brian Kumf 0-1). Fouled out--Endicott Coll. (MA)-None, Tufts Univ. (MA)-None. Rebounds-Endicott Coll. (MA) 28 (GEORGE, Matt 8), Tufts Univ. (MA) 39 (Brian Kumf 10). Assists-Endicott Coll. (MA) 18 (GEORGE, Matt 5), Tufts Univ. (MA) 21 (Jake Weitzen 7; Jeremy Black 7). Total fouls-Endicott Coll. (MA) 16, Tufts Univ. (MA) 22. NCAA Div. III First Round. Winner will play Cortland/UMass Boston winner in the second round Saturday at 7 p.m.