Plymouth State has Tuft Go In Home Opener

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - The Plymouth State men's basketball team lost their home opener to Tufts University 79-63 Tuesday night in non-conference action at Foley Gymnasium. The game marked the first game home for the Panthers following a lengthy road trip to begin the season.

Both teams came in with losing streaks. The Jumbos came in losers of three in a row, while PSU had lost five consecutive. Tufts never trailed in the contest, but failed to totally put the Panthers out of reach until the latter part of the second half. PSU closed the deficit to 30-25 with just five minutes remaining in the first half, but Tufts would rally off seven unanswered points and never looked back.

After the Jumbos came out hot to start the second half, PSU caught fire, igniting the crowd with a 19-6 run of their own, spanning over five minutes. The momentum would be short lived, though, as Tufts would go on 14-4 run, effectively putting the Panthers out of reach the rest of the way.

Senior Scott Anderson lead Tufts with a game high 20 points to go along with six assists. He got help from freshman Stephen Haladyna, who contributed 16 points of his own. The Jumbo's shooters were on fire all night, converting better than 53 percent from the field, and 82 percent from the free throw line.

Plymouth had steady contributions across the board. Sophomore Alex Burt led the Panthers with a team high 13 points, while juniors Mark MacGregor and Petey Skevas each tossed in eleven and nine points, respectively. Senior Kevin Eisenberg also played well, scoring nine points of his own.

The lost dropped the Panthers to 1-6 on the season, as they return to Little East Conference play on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. against University of Massachusetts Dartmouth from Foley Gymnasium. Tufts improved to 4-5 with the win, and will return home to play Lesley University on Friday.