NEW LONDON, Conn. -  Junior Daniel Draffan (Hamden, Conn.) became the 19th player in program history to score his 1,000th career point, but the Connecticut College men's basketball team fell to No. 21 Tufts by an 87-61 score on Saturday afternoon at the Charles B. Luce Field House.

 

Draffan, who entered the game with 981 career points, reached the milestone with 15:23 left in the second half by driving in for a short jumper on the right side. He finished the game with 21 points and four rebounds.

 

The teams exchanged the lead four times in the opening four minutes until a 3-pointer by Eric Savage at the 16:19 mark got the Jumbos going and gave them the lead for good. Justin Kouyoumdjian extended the margin to twin figures by converting a pair of free throws to make it 22-11 by the midway point, and the visitors took a commanding 53-29 lead into the break by getting a trifecta from Dylan Thoerner on their final possession.

Draffan, who scored 13 points in the first half, scored the Camels' first six points of the second frame to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He threw down a dunk through traffic, converted an ensuing free throw, went 1-of-2 at the line on a future possession, and then drove in for a short jumper to make it 63-35 with 15:23 left. Even though he made it eight in a row, the deficit would be too much to overcome. Tufts took its biggest lead of the day at 72-39 on a good jumper by Kouyoumdjian at the 12:47 mark, and the Camels came no closer than 24 points the rest of the way.

Thoerner registered a team-leading 21 points off the bench for Tufts (18-4, NESCAC 8-0), which remained unbeaten in NESCAC action. Luke Rogers registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with six blocked shots, while Brennan Morris added 15 points to sinking five shots from long range.

Connecticut College (4-18, NESCAC 0-8) was paced by Draffan's 21-point effort. Freshman Ben McPherron (Weston, Mass.) notched 11 points and eight boards, and Bailey Whitman (North Wales, Pa.), who was one of four seniors recognized prior to the contest, ended the game with six points and four steals.

The Camels will next visit Hamilton College on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.