MEDFORD, Mass. – Senior Stephen Haladyna (South Hamilton, Mass.) scored 16 points and sophomore Vincent Pace (Bridgewater, N.J.) added 15 to pace four double figure scorers as the Tufts University men's basketball team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 86-62, in a non-conference contest played at Cousens Gymnasium.
With the win the Jumbos improve to 2-0 on the season while the Leopards dropped their second straight to stand at 1-3.
Tufts led from start to finish as the Jumbos raced out to a 16-4 lead with 12 of those points coming off three-point shots. Pace would hit two from behind the arc during the run.
Six of the next eight points were scored by Wentworth and the Leopards trailed 18-10 with 11:52 left on a jumper by senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.). However, Tufts responded with a 10-1 run and took a 28-11 lead with 8:53 to play.
Thanks in part to long-range shooting from sophomore Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) and freshman Dylan Reno (Franklin, Mass.), Wentworth pulled within 14 on a pair of occasions, however would get no closer as the Jumbos extended their lead to 45-21 at the break.
In the second half, the Leopards trimmed the lead to as few as 18 on three occasions as the Black & Gold shot 51.7 percent from the floor, however the Jumbos wouldn't let the deficit shrink to any less and took the 24-point win.
Junior Tarik Smith (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a dozen points while sophomore Ben Engvall (Barrington, R.I.) added 10 to go along with eight rebounds. Senior Ryan Spadaford (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) had nine points and nine rebounds. The Jumbos had a 58-30 rebounding advantage for the game.
Sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) had a game-high 20 points as he connected on 9-of-17 shots from the floor. Romich added 11 and Reno had nine.
Wentworth is idle until it opens Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Wednesday, December 2, at the University of New England.
