MEDFORD - Four Jumbos scored in double figures led by 14 points from freshman Stephen Haladyna (Hamilton, MA) as the Tufts men's basketball team concluded its 2012-13 regular-season with a 74-64 victory against Hamilton College on Tuesday night at Cousens Gym.
Tufts is 16-8 overall and finished 7-3 in NESCAC for fourth place. They will host a conference championship quarterfinal round game at Cousens on Saturday (Feb. 16). The Jumbos are scheduled to play fifth-seed Bowdoin in a 2 pm start.
Hamilton, which failed to quality for the NESCAC tournament, ended the season at 12-12 overall and 3-7 in the league. They were led tonight by 12 points from senior Ken Click (Stony Point, NY).
The Jumbos only trailed against the Continentals early in the game, but could never really pull away. Hamilton made a run late in the second half that got them within three points, but Tufts was able to hold off the charge and earn the victory.
Click and sophomore Peter Kazickas (Amaggansett, NY) combined to score the first four points of the game, which provided Hamilton with its only lead. Tufts went on a 16-4 run over the next five minutes to gain an early 16-8 advantage. Six different players scored for Tufts during the stretch, including five points by Haladyna.
Hamilton twice was within four in the first half, including 25-21 after a jumper by senior Eric Benvenuti (Concord, MA) with 8:07 to go until halftime. However, Tufts would extend its margin to as many as 15 points (44-29) in the opening half and led 44-34 at the break.
All of Haladyna's 14 points came in the first half, when Tufts shot 57.1 percent (16/28). They made six of 11 threes, including a perfert 3 for 3 half from long distance by senior Alex Goldfarb (New York, NY). Junior Oliver Cohen (Penn Valley, PA) had five assists in the first 20 minutes.
Hamilton also shot well in the first half, making 13 of 25 attempts (52 percent) and four of eight three-pointers. Benvenuti led the visitors with nine points at intermission.
The Jumbos were up 14 (54-40) on a three-pointer by sophomore Ben Ferris (Essex Junction, VT) at 14:49 of the second half, but Hamilton hung around. Over the next seven minutes, they outscored Tufts 18-7 to pull within 61-58 at the 7:52 mark. Junior Greg Newton (Barrington, RI), one of four Continentals to score four points during the stretch, hit a lay-up that made it a one-possession game.
However, Tufts answered with a three from junior co-captain Kwame Firempong (Inglewood, CA) and a lay-up by senior Matt Lanchantin (Natick, MA) to go up by eight (66-58) with 4:46 remaining. Hamilton got back within six on a Hans Schulte (High Falls, NY) layup at 4:16, but a 6-0 spurt by the Jumbos gave them enough cushion to go on to the victory.
Ferris with 13 and freshman Tom Palleschi (Haverhill, MA) and senior co-captain Scott Anderson (Sudbury, MA) with 12 were the other Jumbo double-digit scorers. Cohen finished with nine assists for the second time this month, including the Amherst game on February 2. Anderson added 10 rebounds for a double-double. The Jumbos were nine of 18 from three-point land overall.
Newton made five of seven shots for Hamilton and scored 11 points. Sophomore Bradley Gifford (Brooklyn, NY) was productive with seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and three steals.
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