MEDFORD, Mass. — A National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III men's basketball first-round playoff game came down to the final seconds Saturday night, Tufts University coming out on top by a 78-76 margin over Southern Vermont College at its Cousen's Gym.
Tufts went into the locker room at halftime ahead 42-35, only to see the Mountaineers come out firing once play resumed to stay in it. The Jumbos increased their upper hand through the second period, but SVC fought hard to cut its deficit down to a handful in the late minutes. Southern Vermont tied the game at 71-71 with 2:28 to go, and the Mountaineers then pulled ahead with an ensuing three-pointer as the clock ran under a minute.
TU went back in front in the waning seconds, but missed Jumbo free throws paved the way for SVC to keep it a once-possession game. Tufts went 1-for-2 from the line with only six ticks left to take a two-point lead, giving the Mountaineers one final attempt before the buzzer. Lacking any timeouts, Southern Vermont was forced to run the floor and put up a final ditch shot on the fly. SVC went for the victory, but the potential game-winning three was off the mark as the horn sounded.
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The Mountaineers finish the season with a 24-4 overall record after their first NCAA appearance since 2003. Saturday marked the first time in history that SVC and Tufts matched up in any sport.
Southern Vermont senior Jeff James (Bowie, Md.) led the team with 13 points, adding seven rebounds and two assists to his line. Classmate DeShawn Hamlet (Windsor, Conn.) was right behind with 12 points to go with his team-leading eight rebounds, and sophomore Nate Goldsmith (Capitol Heights, Md.) registered another 12 points and six boards in 21 minutes off the bench. Senior Casey Hall (Albany, N.Y.) also hit double digits, dropping 10 points while chipping in with six rebounds and three blocks.
SVC shot 36.5 percent (27-74) from the floor on the evening as the Jumbos went 25-for-67 (37.3 percent) from field goal range. The Mountaineers connected on seven three-pointers, six of those coming in the second half. Southern Vermont held a 20-13 edge in second-chance points and a 36-28 upper hand in points from the paint, but it would prove to be Tufts' one extra trey on the night that made the difference.
TU pulled down a 50-49 edge on the glass while the ball was handled well on both sides, SVC committing just eight turnovers to TU's nine; the Mountaineers utilized their takeaways more efficiently, outscoring the Jumbos 12-5 in points off mishaps.
Southern Vermont started off on the right foot, going up 6-0 with a pair of James freebies after the tip as Tufts couldn't find the bottom of the basket. Momentum shifted towards the tournament hosts at that point, however, as SVC went into a three-minute scoring drought while the Jumbos scored the next nine points to go in front. The Mountaineers tied it up on three occasions over the next couple minutes before Southern Vermont junior Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) came out of a media stoppage and dropped a three-ball from the right corner to put SVC on top 16-13 at the 10:52 mark.
Tufts would regain the lead with a pair of consecutive threes, but a Hamlet layup then shifted the advantage back to Southern Vermont. After the lead changed three more times over the next minute, TU registered six unanswered to go up by five. The Jumbos slowly increased their upper hand to nine with 4:17 to go in the half, only to have Goldsmith convert all three free throws after being fouled on a deep attempt before Taylor added a subsequent layup to cut it down to a 39-35 Tufts lead.
TU fired home a three with 47 seconds to go in the half, pushing it up to a seven-point separation; neither team could connect through the remainder of the stanza for the 42-35 score to get carried into halftime. The Jumbos were 11-for-11 from the line in the opening 20 minutes while hitting five triples to the Mountaineers' one. Both of those stat lines would change in the second half, however, as Southern Vermont grinded back to make it a close finish.
The two sides traded baskets for the first four scores after the intermission, but that fourth would be a Hall three-pointer that was then followed by a trey from SVC senior William Bromirski (Cambridge, N.Y.) which cut it to a 46-43 Mountaineer deficit. After TU responded with a three of its own on the next trip down the floor, James got a layup to go before Hall sank another downtown basket for Southern Vermont to get within one.
Tufts would take to a 12-2 surge, however, to open its lead up to double digits as SVC could not get its shots to drop over the next six minutes. Down 61-50, the Mountaineers started to get rolling once again to get back in it. Goldsmith went on a personal tear, scoring seven straight Southern Vermont points in 52 seconds to start a 10-2 run. That stretch was capped by freshman Josh Borders (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) spotting up in the right corner and knocking home a trey, making it a 63-60 Jumbo lead with 7:05 to go.
Scores at both ends of the court ensued as neither team was able to seize full momentum. A Hamlet layup trimmed it to a 67-66 TU upper hand, but Tufts was able to answer again to maintain its advantage. Southern Vermont tied it up at the 2:28 mark when James dropped a shot from beyond the arc, only for the Jumbos to go back in front on the next possession with a jumper. Missed shots from both sides kept Tufts up at 73-71 going into the final minute where Bromirski hit a huge three-pointer from deep behind the right edge of the perimeter to put SVC on top by one.
Once more, the hosts had a reply as they hit a three of their own at the other end to take back the lead at 76-74. A missed Mountaineer shot forced SVC to foul, giving Tufts a chance to make it a two-possession game from the free throw line. The team that had been perfect at the stripe in the first half would not be so efficient in the late-going of regulation, hitting just 1-of-2 free throw attempts with 21 seconds to play to make it a three-point contest. After Southern Vermont missed on its front end of a 1-and-1 bonus opportunity, the Jumbos would again get fouled and have a chance to ice it. But the Tufts shooter couldn't connect on either end of his double bonus trip to the line, allowing Borders to draw a foul and calmly hit both freebies to cut it down to a one-point TU lead.
The errant free throws from Tufts continued as the Jumbo went 1-for-2 again, giving the Mountaineers a last-ditch attempt in the final seconds. Without the ability to stop the clock and draw up a play, the SVC sharp shooters ran the floor quickly and got a look from the right edge of the arc, one that was decently defended and forced to go wayward as the hosts finished off the marginal victory.