WORCESTER -- Preseason All-America Scott Gyimesi (Fair Haven, NJ) tallied 24 points and 13 rebounds to spark visiting Tufts to a 40-point second half as the Jumbo defeated host WPI in a non-conference showdown of nationally-ranked men's basketball teams Saturday afternoon inside Harrington Auditorium.
 
Tufts, which has now won 11 consecutive games since starting the season 0-2, is ranked 21st in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 while the Engineers, who are 17th in the same poll, saw its season-equaling best winning streak snapped at four, dip to 8-2 overall.
 
Following a defensive-minded opening 20 minutes and a turnover and a missed shot on their opening two possessions coming out of the locker room for the second half, the Jumbos scored on nine straight possessions, shooting 7-of-8 from the floor (with an offensive rebound) and 1-of-2 from the free throw line.  Dylan Reilly (Sammamish, WA) connected on a pair of 3-pointers as the visitors, which had struggled shooting 3-for-18 in the first half from downtown, drained 3-of-4 trifectas during the 18-7 spurt.
 
After the aforementioned Tufts run, neither team scored for a span of 4:36 with the Engineers misfiring on three straight shots and committing three turnovers during the stretch.   The Jumbos would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way, shooting at a 58.8% clip (10-for-17) and thwarting any WPI rallies other than a pair of Tim Reidy (Dedham, MA) 3-pointers over a 74 second sequence.
  
Tufts led for a large majority of the opening half that showcased both teams on the defensive end of the floor.  The Jumbos shot 33.3% from the floor and 16.7% (3-of-18) on 3-pointers while the hosts had a field goal percentage of 32.1% and drained 2-of-8 (25%) from downtown.  Tufts surged ahead by eight points at 25-17 with 5:37 to go before intermission but the Engineers uncorked nine of the final 14 points of the frame to whittle the deficit to four at 30-26 at the break.  Gyimesi paced all first half scorers with 13 points for the visitors while J.R. Newman (Havertown, MA) reached double figures with 10 first half points.
 
Gyimesi amassed his eighth double of the season his career and 43rd of his career while shooting 9-of-15 from the field.  The senior grabbed 10 of his 13 boards off the offensive glass and also add a pair of steals.  Reilly finished with 14 points, Joshua Bernstein (Miami, FL) dodged first half foul trouble and netted 11 of his 13 points in the second half to go along with eight rebounds and Sidney Wooten (Phoenix, AZ) doled out five assists without committing a turnover on the day.
 
Newman drained 6-of-9 shots from the field to lead the Engineers with 15 points.  Reidy joined him in double figures in scoring with 10 and Justin Molen (Newark, DE) contributed seven points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals of the hosts.
 
WPI closes out its non-conference schedule and a four-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Middlebury at 6pm.  Tufts is off until Friday when it opens up NESCAC play with a trip to Maine to square off with Bowdoin at 7pm.