Hamilton outlasts Tufts, 67-64

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Pat Sullivan '12 scored a game-high 23 points to lead Hamilton College to a 67-64 win over Tufts University in a NESCAC game at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Feb. 10.

Sullivan also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and blocked two shots. He moved into 10th place on the team's all-time scoring list with 1,399 points.

Ken Click '13 chipped in 12 points and five rebounds, and Greg Newton '14 and Matt Dean '14 added eight points apeice. Newton handed out a team-high six assists.

Scott Anderson '13 posted a double-double for the Jumbos with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. C.J. Moss '15 chipped in 11 points, and Kwame Firempong '14 and Ben Ferris '15 each dished out six assists. Ferris also grabbed eight rebounds.

Hamilton (14-9 overall, 3-6 NESCAC) scored the first five points and took a 19-16 lead on a jumper by Hans Schulte '13 with 10:27 to play in the first half. After Ferris made a tip-in at the other end with 10:04 on the clock, the Continentals responded with a 10-0 run to take a 29-18 lead with 6:11 remaining in the half. Dean converted back-to-back layups to start the run, Click nailed a jumper, and Sullivan hit a jumper and a layup to give Hamilton an 11-point cushion.

But the Continentals managed only two more points the rest of the half, as Tufts battled back with a 14-2 run spanning both halves to take the lead. James Long '12 sparked the run with a traditional 3-point play with 3:22 left in the first half, and Anderson capped it with a jumper with 19:26 remaining in the second half to give the Jumbos a 32-31 lead. Tufts shot 34.3 percent from the floor in the first half.

A 3-pointer by Oliver Cohen '14 with 12:09 left gave the Jumbos their largest lead of the second half at 50-43. But Hamilton responded with an 18-5 run over the next 7 minutes, 50 seconds to build a 61-55 advantage with 4:19 to play.

Moss drained a 3-pointer following an offensive rebound on the next possession to pull Tufts within 61-58 with 3:39 left. After Newton hit a jumper five seconds later to stretch Hamilton's lead to 63-58, the Continentals' turned the ball over and Moss sank another 3-pointer to make it 63-61 with 2:58 remaining.

Another Jumbos' offensive rebound led to a 3-pointer by Anderson with 1:20 on the clock that put Tufts ahead 64-63. But on the next possession, Click nailed a baseline jumper from the left side to put Hamilton in front 65-64. Click then blocked a shot and collected the rebound on the ensuing Jumbos' possession.

A layup by Schulte with 14 seconds remaining gave the Continentals a 67-64 lead. After a Tufts timeout, Moss's 3-point attempt with four seconds on the clock missed, and the rebound went out of bounds as time expired to secure the win for Hamilton. The Continentals shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the second half, and 54.4 percent for the game. It was Hamilton's second-highest shooting percentage of the season.

Tufts held a 38-26 rebound advantage as the Jumbos grabbed 18 offensive boards. The last meeting between the two teams was a 95-51 overtime win for Hamilton on Dec. 9, 2000. Tufts leads the all-time series 10-7.

Hamilton hosts Bates College for a NESCAC game on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m.