Medford and Somerville H.S. basketball teams to tip off at 2019 Tufts Classic

This release was updated on Jan. 18 to reflect a new date for the Tufts Classic and new start times for both games.

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (Jan. 3, 2019)—The Medford High School Mustangs and Somerville High School Highlanders girls and boys basketball teams will continue their rivalry at the 3rd Annual Tufts Classic on Sunday, Feb. 3, at the Cousens Gymnasium on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus. The girls' game will tip off at 11 a.m., and the boys' game will tip off at 12:30 p.m.

This is the only time Medford and Somerville will meet all season.  

For the first time, the winners of each game will receive a "Tufts Classic" trophy, which will stay in their possession until the next Tufts Classic.

Players from all four teams will receive specially-branded Tufts Classic t-shirts to commemorate their participation in the doubleheader.

Admission to the Tufts Classic doubleheader is free. Event staff will be accepting donations for food pantries in Medford and Somerville. Fans are asked to bring nonperishable food items to support those in need in both cities.

The Medford boys' team coach John Skerry will be making a return to the Medford/Somerville campus; the Tufts alumnus captained the Jumbo men's basketball team in 1994.

Last year, the Highlanders beat the Mustangs in both games, 62-54 in the boys' game and 35-32 in the girls' game.

The Tufts Classic is just one way that Tufts Athletics supports young athletes in the Jumbos' host communities.

Through an agreement between Tufts and Somerville, Somerville's young recreational athletes in select sports have access to Tufts athletic fields and facilities for practices and games. Tufts men's lacrosse and football teams host annual coat and food drives for Somerville Homeless Coalition, and the Tufts football team also participates in a reading program with students at West Medford's Brooks Elementary School. Additionally, Tufts student athletes volunteer at Columbus Elementary School in South Medford with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay.

Jumbo athletes also act as mentors for local children through Team IMPACT, a program co-founded by Tufts alumni that pairs children with severe or chronic illnesses with college athletes. 

For more information on team-specific community engagement, visit http://www.gotuftsjumbos.com/information/saac.

###

About Tufts University

Tufts University, located on campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville and Grafton, Massachusetts, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across the university's schools is widely encouraged.