MEDFORD – Junior Everett Dayton tallied a career-high 25 points and added a career-high eight assists to lead the No. 4 Tufts men's basketball team to a 100-83 win over Connecticut College on Saturday afternoon in Cousens Gym. Classmate Vincent Pace added 20 points and five rebounds on the day.

The Jumbos improve to 15-2 overall and 6-0 in NESCAC play.  With the setback the Camels are 11-6 overall and 2-4 in conference tilts.  Saturday marked the first time this season the Jumbos broke the 100-point scoring mark.

The first half was close, as a three from Camel Zuri Pavlin about four minutes into the game tied the score at eight.  But, the Jumbos responded with a jumper from Dayton, followed by a layup from senior tri-captain Tarik Smith.  After two points from David Labossiere, Pace and Dayton made back-to-back threes to give the Jumbos the 18-10 advantage.

With the Jumbos up by 12, 39-27, with just under six minutes remaining in the half, the Camels got a layup from Phil Leotsakos, followed by a layup from Labossiere to come within eight.  That was followed by a free throw from Pavlin and a layup from Leotsakos, and then two from Colin Pascoe brought the Camels within two, 40-38 with just about two minutes remaining in the half.

Freshman Eric Savage nailed a three, but about a minute later Pavlin answered with his own, and two free throws from Tyler Rowe tied the game at 43 with 13 seconds left in the half.  Sophomore Ethan Feldman turned in a clutch three with two seconds left in the half to give the Jumbos the 46-43 lead at the break.

The two teams would trade points to open the second half, but Dayton was on fire, scoring eight points in about a minute and a half to give the Jumbos the 56-49 advantage with 16:17 left I the game. Savage hit his second three of the game to give the Jumbos the 63-53 advantage with 14:22 left in the game and that would be a lead the Jumbos held on to for the rest of the game.

Dayton's 25 points were a game-high as were his eight assists.  He also added four rebounds and two steals to his afternoon.  Pace finished with 20 points and five boards and Savage tallied 11 points and four rebounds off the bench for the Jumbos.  Junior KJ Garrett helped with four points and a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Ben Engvall finished with nine points, all of those coming from downtown.

For the Camels, Rowe finished with a team-high 19 points.  Pavlin added 14 and Labossiere and Lee Messier each scored ten.  Leotsakos was the rebound leader with nine, and Labossiere helped with six.

The Jumbos are now just over halfway through their NESCAC slate and are in first place in the conference standings with a perfect 6-0 mark.  They sit just ahead of Trinity (4-1) and Middlebury (3-1).  Amherst and Hamilton are tied for fourth place with 3-2 marks.

Tufts will stay home and take the court again on Thursday as they host Newbury for a 7:30 pm start. The Camels play again when they host Fisher for a 7 pm start on Wednesday.