Box Score MEDFORD - Sophomore Hunter Sabety's 19 points led 12 Jumbos who showed up in the scoring column as the Tufts men's basketball team opened its second semester of play with an 80-53 victory over Newbury College at Cousens Gym Tuesday night.
The game was close for the first 10 minutes before the Jumbos broke it open. Freshman Stefan Duvivier had 10 of Tufts' 43 points off the bench overall as the Jumbos improved to 4-6 with their second win a row. Tufts was playing its first game since an 84-78 win at Plymouth State on December 9.
Sophomore Kenny Ramos led the visiting Nighthawks with 15 points, while senior Kwame Thompson scored 13 off the bench in his season debut. Newbury, also returning to action after a month off, lost its eighth in a row to drop to 1-9 overall.
Newbury had a 14-13 lead after a three-point play by Ramos at 13:47 of the opening half. Ramos and sophomore Ceejae Carter both had five points to boost the Nighthawks' strong start. However, Tufts would out-score the visitors 35-12 over the remainder of the period to take a commanding 49-25 lead at intermission.
Sabety had 13 points on six for nine shooting in the opening 20 minutes to lead Tufts. Duvivier contributed eight points, five rebounds and two assists in the first half, while junior Ryan Spadaford and freshman Ben Engvall both scored six in opening action for the Jumbos. Tufts dominated the boards 26-15 and shot 58.1 percent (18/31) from the field in the half. They had assists on 14 of 18 baskets.
Ramos scored 11 to lead Newbury at the break. The Nighthawks were 10 for 29 shooting (34.5 percent overall) for the half, but just 1 for 11 (9.1 percent) from three-point land.
Newbury would make 17 of 26 from the free throw line in the second half, but the game never got closer than 23 points. Tufts' lead peaked at 35 on several occasions.
The Jumbos finished at 50.8 percent shooting for the game (31/61) and had a +21 rebounding margin (53-32). Sophomore Drew Madsen pitched in eight points, six rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes off the bench. Sophomore point guard Tarik Smith had five of the team's 21 assists on 31 baskets.
Ramos made six of 10 field goals in the game for Newbury, which shot 27.8 percent (15/54) overall. The Nighthawks were just 2 for 18 from beyond the arc (11.1 percent). Thompson added seven rebounds and two assists to his game.
Tufts started a busy week with the win. They will host Rhode Island College at Cousens Gym Thursday night at 7. Newbury has a New England Collegiate Conference game at Regis on Saturday at 3.
Game Photos by Kelvin Ma / Tufts
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