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Simmons' three pointer in final minute beats Tufts 57-55

Simmons' three pointer in final minute beats Tufts 57-55
Posted: Dec 01, 2009

Story courtesy of Rob Palardy, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Lesley sophomore Shawn Simmons (NORWALK, Conn./Brian McMahon) hit a game-winning three point shot with 14 seconds remaining to lift the Lynx over Tufts University 57-55 on Tuesday evening.  The Lynx won back-to-back games for the first time this season as they improved to 2-5 while Tufts remained winless at 0-4. 

Simmons scored all five of his points in the final minute of the game off of two free throw makes to bring the Lynx within one point of the Jumbos at 55-54 and then hit the game winning shot from long range in the corner.  Tufts raced down the court down two points and junior Sam Mason (YORK, Maine/Phillips Exeter) attempted a lay-up to tie the game but Lesley's Jesus Trejo (METHUEN, Mass./Methuen) blocked the shot.

Simmons provided the clutch shot in the waning moments of the game, but it was the consistent play of guard Jermaine Harris (HAVERHILL, Mass./Haverhill) that kept Lesley in the game.  Harris scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and tallied three steals in a second period that saw the Lynx erase a five-point halftime deficit. 

Tufts senior forward Jon Pierce (BELMONT, Mass./Phillips Exeter) poured in a game-high 23 points by hitting 11-of-16 shots from the floor.  Pierce's teammate, junior Matt Galvin (FLORAL PARK, N.Y./Regis) dished out 10 assists in 34 minutes on the court. 

Pierce scored 12 and Dan Cook (DOVER, Mass./Dover-Sherborn) added 11 points in a first half that saw the Jumbos take a five-point lead going into halftime.  Tufts held a lead as large as 11 points in the period.  In the second half, however, Lesley scored 15 points off of 11 Tufts turnovers and outrebounded their opponents 16-10 to get themselves back in the game. 

Lesley's Trejo continued to dominate in the low-post, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Six of his 11 rebounds were on the offensive glass.

Another factor in Lesley's victory was their quality free throw shooting.  The Lynx hit 19-of-24 attempts (79.2%), far above their season average to date. 

This was just the second time these two have met on the court and the Lynx were able to exact some revenge.  Their previous meeting was on December 2, 2008 at Tufts as the host Jumbos won handily 92-52. 

Lesley will next travel to Nichols College on Saturday, December 5 for a 1:00 pm game.  Tufts hosts Keene State as part of the Big Four Challenge starting on December 3 at 7:00 pm.