MEDFORD, Mass. – Junior Rome Delgado-Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) scored 15 points while adding four assists and two steals but the MIT men's basketball lost to No. 8 Tufts University, 80-62, in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Cousens Gym.
Delgado-Gonzalez was one of four MIT players in double figures, as sophomore Merlin Gogolin (New York, N.Y.) added 14 points, sophomore Isaac Dobie (Kitty Hawk, N.C.) scored 12 and senior Kade Killeen (Austin, Texas) added 11 points and team-high six rebounds. Junior Joshua Bernstein (Miami, Fla.) finished with a 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks to lead the Jumbos.
THE BASICS:
- Score: Tufts 80, MIT 68
- Records: Tufts (5-0 Overall), MIT (4-2 Overall)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- A low-scoring opening ten minutes of play saw MIT take a 13-10 advantage when Gogolin dropped in a layup at the 9:32 mark.
- A Bernstein dunk and a Sidney Wooten (Phoenix, Ariz.) three quickly erased the deficit for Tufts, tying the score at 15-15 at the 8:37 mark of the first.
- The contest stayed tight until back-to-back MIT buckets from Delgado-Gonzalez and sophomore Will Bland (Virginia Beach, Va.) gave the Engineers a 27-23 lead with just over two minutes to play until the half.
- Tufts countered, closing out the half with an 8-0 run, as Tufts sophomore Dylan Reilly (Sammamish, Wash) beat the buzzer with a step back jumper to end the half with the Jumbos leading, 32-27.
- The Jumbos extended their five-point halftime advantage to eight early in the second half but a 12-2 MIT run saw the Engineers take a 43-41 lead when first year Jackson Weiland (Medford, Ore.) swiped the basketball and finished on a fast break layup at 15:13.
- MIT held on to the lead through the 13:25 mark of the second but the Jumbos took control of the contest with a 13-2 run. A layup from Reilly just past the midway point of the half gave the hosts a 56-46 lead.
- Tufts would lead throughout the remainder of regulation, extending the advantage to as many as 13 points, before closing out the 80-68 when Bernstein tallied his final points of the night with a tip in with 14 seconds left in the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Delgado-Gonzalez finished the contest 5-for-9 from the floor and played 39 minutes in the contest. His 15 points were a season high.
- The contest was tight for much of the game, with the teams playing to seven lead changes and eight tied scores.
- Tufts had the advantage inside, finishing with a 42-28 advantage on the glass and blocking nine MIT shots. However, MIT outscored Tufts in the paint, 40-38.
- Bland made his first appearance of the season after starting 24 games for the Engineers as rookie in 2023-24.
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