WORCESTER -- Tufts held WPI without a field goal for a stretch of 8:15 late in the second half as the visitors used a 16-4 run to defeat the host Crimson and Gray 67-58 in a non-conference matchup of nationally-ranked and unbeaten men's basketball teams on Tuesday evening in Harrington Auditorium.
The Jumbos, ranked 23rd in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, moves to 6-0 overall. WPI, which is 12th in the same poll, slips to 6-1 on the season. Both teams appeared in this week's poll after each receiving votes in the preseason Top 25.
Tufts led a majority of the opening 30 minutes of the game but saw WPI close to within a point at 45-44 on Nathan Bledsoe's (San Antonio, TX) third 3-pointer of the second half with 9:30 remaining. However, the Engineers would then misfire on their next seven shots from the field while the guests received scoring from five different players, including five points from Casey McLaren (Newburyport, MA), en route to netting 16 of the game's next 20 points to ahead 61-48 with 1:20 remaining.
The hosts would not go quietly hitting their next four shots, including back-to-back trifectas from Jack Bleier (Victor, NY) six seconds apart, and layups from Justin Molen (Newark, DE) and Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, CA) to claw black to within six at 64-58 with 37 seconds left. Tufts then drained 3-of-6 free throws the rest of the way and WPI could not connect on its final three shots to draw any closer.
Scott Gyimesi (Fair Haven, NJ) and Khai Champion (Philadelphia, PA) combined for 12 points during a 15-2 Tufts spurt midway through the first half and went up on by as many as 12 points before the hosts inched back to within five at 30-25 at the break. Gyimesi posted 12 points in the opening 20 minutes while John Adams (Douglas, MA) registered eight points and nine boards and Justin Molen (Newark, DE) added seven points and a pair of blocks for the Crimson and Gray.
Gyimesi ended the game with a double-double, registering a game-best 20 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. The sophomore was impressive from the floor, canning on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor. Joshua Bernstein (Miami, FL) was also efficient from the floor, shooting 5-of-7 on the night on his way to 12 points to go along with eight boards and a pair of blocks. Champion also reached double figures in scoring with 11 points.
Bledsoe reached a new career-high in scoring for WPI with 12 points on the night, all from downtown. Sevilla joined him in double digits with 10 points and Adams finished a point short of a double-double with nine points and 13 boards, all on the defensive glass. Molen netted nine points and the two blocks and Aidan Callahan (Rowley, MA) paced all players by doling out five assists to go along with seven points.
Overall, the Jumbos enjoyed a 48-35 advantage on the boards and held WPI to its worst shooting of the season and the Engineers shot 34.5% from the floor. The guests also held a 12-2 edge in fast break points and a 11-3 bulge in second chance points.
WPI is off until a week from Wednesday, when it begins NEWMAC play in Newport, RI versus Salve Regina at 7pm. The game will be the first Engineers league game in the month of December in the 26-year history of the conference. Tufts faces its second straight undefeated NEWMAC opponent this Thursday, hosting 5-0 Clark at 7pm.