LEICESTER, Mass.—Senior Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) scored 17 of his season-high 27 points in the first half to help seventh-ranked Babson College defeat Becker College, 83-66, in non-conference men's basketball action on Tuesday afternoon at Leicester Gymnasium.
With the win, Babson improves to 3-1 on the year, while Becker drops to 1-2 overall.
Comenale knocked down four three-pointers and went 11-of-18 from the floor to go along with five rebounds for the Beavers. Senior Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) added 16 points, five boards, three assists and three blocked shots, while graduate student Tim Hasbargen (Munich, Germany) chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Junior Brandon Johnson (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) led all players with 10 boards, and senior Chris Lowry (Union, Conn.) dished out a game-high seven assists for the Green and White.
Senior Samuel Durodola (Rosedale, N.Y.) finished with 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hawks. Junior Bernard Broaster (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) added 13 points, while leading scorer, junior Kareem Davis (Lowell, Mass.), was limited to just eight points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Leading 18-17 midway through the first half, Babson seized control of the game with a 22-5 spurt. The trio of Comenale, Jacks and Hasbargen combined for 17 points during the run, which gave the Beavers a 40-22 advantage on a layup by Jacks with 1:50 to go in the stanza.
Becker cut its deficit to 12 at the break, but the Green and White responded by making 10 of its first 17 shots to begin the second half, pushing its lead to as many as 26 with under 11 minutes to go in the game. Consecutive hoops by Johnson and sophomore Julian Alexis (Somerville, N.J.) made it 62-40 with 11:52 to go, and Comenale followed with a deep triple and an old-fashioned three-point play to extend the Beavers' advantage to 68-42 at the 10:26 mark.
The Hawks held Babson without a hoop for nearly three minutes before sophomore Frank Oftring (North Attleboro, Mass.) followed a three-pointer by classmate Shyheim Ulrickson (Topsham, Maine) to give the visitors a 73-50 lead with 7:13 left.
The Beavers shot 44.6 percent from the floor, finished with a 53-39 edge on the glass and scored 25 points off of 16 Becker turnovers.
The Hawks shot just 35.7 percent overall and were just 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
Both teams return to action on Sunday as Babson travels to Bowdoin at 2 p.m., while Becker hosts Western New England at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 5-1 all-time against Becker.
• Babson has won 18 of its last 19 road games going back to January 2016.
• The Green and White is 43-3 when leading at the half dating bck to the start of the 2015-16 campaign.
• Over its first four games, Babson owns a +11.5 rebounding advantage.