KEENE, NH (March 3, 2023) -- The Tufts University men's basketball team used an 11-0 run early in the second half to pull away from Widener University, earning a 78-66 NCAA Tournament First Round victory in play from Spaulding Gym at Keene State University. 

The Jumbos (20-7) will now take on No. 5 Keene State College, who defeated Baruch College 89-78 in the second contest of the day, Saturday at 5:30 p.m. for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16 round.

The win for the Jumbos was their first in the NCAA Tournament since the 2020 season when the squad advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament before CoVID-19 caused the cancelation of the remainder of the Tournament. The win was head coach Brandon Linton's first NCAA Tournament victory as well as a head coach at Tufts. 

The key stretch for the Jumbos came with 17 minutes to go with Tufts up 35-30, as senior Tyler Aronson started an 11-0 run over a period of three minutes to make the score 48-32 after a bucket by Joshua Bernstein. Tufts would push its lead up to as much as 17 points with 12:45 to play on a triple from Casey McLaren, and continued to lead by 17 with 9:36 to after a Trumann Gettings lay-up. 

Widener (19-9) pulled to with 10 on seven different occasions, but the Jumbos were able to hit 12 free throws over the final two minutes to seal the victory. The first half though was a back-and-forth affair, as Widener led 9-2 after a triple by Dominic Dunn just over four minutes into the game. 

McLaren came off the bench and drilled a three-pointer to start a 12-0 run fueled by five points by Dylan Thoerner to five Tufts a 14-9 edge with 11:05 remaining in the opening half. The Jumbos led by six on a Carson Cohen lay-up at 19-13, but Widener fought back to take a 20-19 lead with eight minutes left. Once again Tufts powered ahead by six on a three by Scott Gyimesi, but the Pride would make it a two-point game at the break at 30-28. 

The Jumbos had a balanced attack, led by senior Theo Henry who came off the bench to score 19 points, making all 12 free throw attempts on the night. McLaren just missed his season-high Friday with 12 points, going 4-of-7 from downtown, while Thoerner and Bernstein each finished with 11 points. Thoerner now has 985 points for his career. Bernstein also tallied 11 rebounds on the night, registering his first career double-double. 

Cohen posted six points, five assists and three rebounds, and Gettings finished with six points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Khai Champion came off the bench to score six points, making both of his three-point attempts. The Jumbos held a huge edge in bench points, 51-16, for the game and also out-rebounded the Pride 47-39. 

Tufts was 25-of-61 (41.0 percent) from the floor, making 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from behind the three-point line. The Jumbos also connected on 18 of their 25 free throws, including 15-of-18 in the second half. 

Kenny Lewis finished with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds for Widener, while Dunn and Pat Holden finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively. 

Live stats and video of Saturday's 5:30 p.m. tip with the No. 5 Owls will be available at gotuftsjumbos.com.