AMHERST, Mass.—Junior Jayde Dawson (Montreal, Quebec) hit a driving layup at the buzzer to send No. 1 Amherst College past No. 2 Babson College, 99-97, in double overtime in non-conference men's basketball action on Thursday night at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Babson, which suffered its first loss of the season, is now 9-1, while Amherst improves to 7-0 with its 24th straight home win.
- Watch Amherst coach Dave Hixon's postgame interview on Hoopsville
- Watch Babson coach Stephen Brennan's postgame interview on Hoopsville
Senior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) finished with 41 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Beavers, who led by as many as four in the second overtime. Junior Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) scored 16 points and led all players with five steals, senior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards, and classmate Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) added 13 points, all in the second half.
Dawson scored 32 points on 13-of-30 shooting to pace five Amherst players in double figures. Junior Johnny McCarthy (Medfield, Mass.) scored all 19 of his points after the break, while senior Jacob Nabatoff (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Dawson scored 10 of Amherst's first 15 points, but Flannery and Nelsen combined for 15 of Babson's first 19 to help the visitors build a four-point lead at the 12:41 mark. Flannery knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 31-25 with 4:58 to play in the first half, and then drilled consecutive triples to give the Green and White a 39-31 edge, its biggest of the stanza, with 2:26 left until the break. Nabatoff hit a pair of free throws and senior Jeff Racy (Ridgefield, Conn.) knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Beavers' advantage back to three going into the locker room.
Amherst opened the second half with an 8-0 run, but the Green and White responded with a 17-4 burst keyed by 10 points from Bohmiller to go back in front 61-53 with 9:46 to play. The Purple and White countered with an 18-5 spurt of their own to build a five-point lead, but Beavers' senior Charlie Rice(Barnstable, Mass.) tied the contest at 73-73 on a layup with 2:40 left.
Up one with 0:07 left in regulation, Flannery scored off his own miss from the free throw line to grab an 81-78 lead, but McCarthy drained a three-pointer from the right wing with 1.9 seconds to go to force overtime.
Babson went 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the first OT and led 90-84 with 2:00 to play, but senior Racy buried a triple from the corner and Dawson followed a blocked shot on one end with a layup to knot the game at 91-91 and forced a second extra session.
Six consecutive points from Flannery gave the Beavers a 97-93 edge in the second overtime before Amherst scored the final six points. McCarthy tied the game at 97-97 with another trifecta with 51 seconds to play leading to Dawson's hoop at the buzzer.
The Beavers shot 42.1 percent (32-of-76) from the floor and finished 23-of-28 (82.1 percent) at the free throw line.
Amherst shot 46.8 percent (36-of-77) overall and finished with a 48-40 edge on the glass.
Babson returns to action when it travels to Chicago at 3 p.m. on December 31, while Amherst concludes its first-half schedule when it hosts Lasell on Saturday.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 13-24 all-time against Amherst and suffered their first loss at LeFrank Gymnasium since 2010.
• Thursday's loss snapped Babson's eight-game road winning streak going back to last season.
• Flannery, who played all 50 minutes on Thursday, has totaled 83 points over the last two games.
• Babson's loss was just its second over the last 24 games when putting at least three players in doubles figures.