NESCAC Final: No. 1 Tufts 102, No. 2 Colby 94 - Mar 2, 2020

Senior Eric Savage (6'3''-G) drained a deep three with three seconds left in regulation to send the NESCAC Championship to overtime, and the top-seeded Tufts men's basketball team prevailed over second-seeded Colby, 102-94, in double-overtime, at Cousens Gym on Sunday afternoon. The NESCAC Championship is the program's first and with the win, the Jumbos receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Colby (24-3) will await a possible at large bid when the bracket is announced at 12:30 pm on Monday.
The Jumbos (21-6) were led by a game-high 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists from Savage while junior Luke Rogers (6'8''-C) added 25 points, 19 rebounds, and two blocks. Brennan Morris (6'6''-G) tallied 16 points and six rebounds. The Mules were led by 23 points from Dean Weiner (6'7''-F), while Matt Hanna (5'9''-PG) added 21 points and Noah Tyson (6'2''-G) finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Dean Weiner made two free throws with 1:19 remaining in regulation to give the Mules a 72-70 lead. On the Jumbos end of the court, Rogers made one-of-two at the charity stripe to bring the Jumbos within one, 72-71, with a minute to go. Colby's Matt Hanna put the visitors up by three with a pair of free throws with six seconds left. On the ensuing play, sophomore Tyler Aronson brought the ball down the court and handed it off to Savage. Savage mishandled a dribble for a moment, collected the ball and drained a long-range 3-pointer tie the game, 75-75. Colby got off a shot quickly, but it didn't come close.
Hanna opened up overtime with a couple of free throws for the Mules and freshman Dylan Thoerner (6'6''-G) made two free throws for the Jumbos to tie things up. The overtime period was tied twice and the two teams traded the lead. With things locked at 78 the Jumbos got a layup from Rogers, but the Mules answered with a three from Hanna and then a couple of free throws from Noah Tyson to grow their lead to three with 1:08 left. Savage sunk another three with 52 seconds left to tie things at 83. Kingston Williams (6'5''-F) put the Mules ahead two with a layup with 14 seconds left, and then Thoerner made two high-pressure free throws with just a couple seconds left to force a second overtime.
The Jumbos won the tipoff in the second overtime period and Savage opened up scoring with a jumper. Wallace Tucker (5'10''-PG) made one-of-two at the line for the Mules and then a Rogers' layup put the Jumbos up three. Junior Brennan Morris picked up a key steal and another Rogers' layup and the free throw after put the Jumbos up six, 91-86, with 1:38 to go. Colby got within five, but the Jumbos made 10 of their last 12 free throws in the last 1:10 to pick up the 102-94 win.
Tufts opened up the game strong with a jumper from Morris and then a layup and the free throw after from Rogers. After a three from Kingston Williams brought the Mules within one, Rogers made another layup and then Savage pushed the lead back to five with a jumper. Weiner made a layup and the free throw after to cut the lead to two. But Savage made a layup and then a jumper and Thoerner made one of two at the line to put the Jumbos ahead seven, 16-9, about six minutes into play.
Ahead by eight with 4:58 till the break the Jumbos grew their lead a bit. Thoerner started it with a jumper and then sophomore Carson Cohen (6'3''-G) pushed the lead to 12 with a layup. Cohen made two free throws on the Jumbos next possession and then a three from Morris put the Jumbos ahead by 17, 41-24, with 2:53 on the clock. The Jumbos took a 12-point lead into the break.
The Mules cut the lead at the beginning of the second half, but the Jumbos held on to a sizable lead for the first half of the second half. Trailing by nine, 63-54, with 6:53 to go the Mules got a layup from King and then a jumper from Hanna to come within five. A jumper from Weiner brought them within three and then a three from Noah Tyson with 4:23 to go tied things at 63. Tyson made three free throws on the Mules' next possession to give them a three-point advantage with 3:40 to go. The game was tied at 69 and 70 when the last two-minute dramatics started and Savage made the game-tying three to send the game to overtime.

NESCAC Tournament Final: Tufts - Colby 102-94, 2OT
NESCAC Tournament Semifinals:
Tufts - Trinity 87-73
Colby - Amherst 65-61

Courtesy of nescac.com

Tags : ERIC SAVAGE, TUFTS UNIVERSITY, NCAA3 BASKETBALL