KEENE, NH (November 30, 2025) -- The No. 22 Tufts University men's basketball team saw six players score in double digits Sunday afternoon, erasing a seven-point halftime deficit to rally for an important 82-79 win over host Keene State College in action from Spaulding Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (5-2) won their fifth straight game Sunday afternoon, which saw six players mainly contribute to the victory. First-year
Ricardo Nieves had a breakout contest in just his seventh collegiate contest, as the newcomer finished 7-for-9 overall while nailing both three-pointers en route to 18 points.
Junior
Jon Medley was also a huge part of the win, as he finished with 16 points, eight assists and three rebounds.
Tufts trailed by 10 with 17:02 to go in regulation after a dunk by Denis Wainaina to make it 47-37 KSC, but an 8-2 run capped by a lay-up and triple from Nieves made it 49-45 Owls with 14:20 left.
KSC would continue to lead, taking a seven-point lead at 59-52 with 10:33 to go, but the Jumbos rattled off a 10-point run capped by a thunderous dunk by
Joshua Bernstein to give Tufts a 62-59 lead with 8:21 remaining.
The Owls responded by taking a six-point lead with 2:45 left on a lay-up by Wainaina, but a 9-0 run powered by a dunk from Nieves and two free throws by the first-year to take a 78-75 lead with 29 seconds left.
Medley would hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds to play after getting his own free throw miss, and
Sidney Wooten hit two clutch free throws after a deep three from the Owls to make it 82-79. On the ensuing in-bounds, KSC was unable to get a three-point heave off as the Jumbos held on for the win.
Wooten finished with 14 points, hitting 11-of-12 from the free throw line, while senior
Scott Gyimesi posted 11 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. He is now 31st on the all-time scoring list with 1020 points for his career.
Junior
Zion Watt added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds, hitting 2-of-5 from deep, while Bernstein tallied 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Tufts was 24-of-51 (48.2 percent) overall while hitting seven of its 19 attempts from behind the arc for a 44.4 percent clip. The Jumbos also were solid at the line, making 73 percent on 37 attempts, making 27.
Keene State was led by the 16 points and five rebounds from Mitch Shettles, while Wainaina recorded 14 points and nine caroms. KSC led for the final 17 minutes of the first half, taking a 38-31 lead into the intermission.
Tufts returns home Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to take on the Bears of Bridgewater State University in Cousens Gymnasium in non-conference play.
--JUMBOS--
