BABSON PARK, Mass. – Babson College used a 27-8 second half run to erase a 12-point deficit en route to a 71-61 comeback victory over visiting Gordon College in a non-conference men's basketball contest at Staake Gymnasium on Tuesday night. With the win, the Beavers moved back over the .500 mark at 3-2 on the young season, while the Fighting Scots fell to 2-3.
Sophomore Marcus McDermott (Milton, Mass.) paced Babson with 20 points – 14 of which came in the second half – to go along with six assists. Sophomore Alex Rudolph (Bal Harbour, Fla.) added 11 points and five rebounds, junior Kris Noonan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) chipped in with 10 points and six boards, and sophomore Russell Braithwaite (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and first-year Matt Palazini (Franklin, Mass.) each scored eight points in the win. Offensively, the Beavers helped their own cause by hitting all 16 of their free throw attempts, while defensively they forced 11 turnovers in the second half and 20 for the game.
Gordon was led by senior Greg Walker (Uxbrigde, Mass.), who scored a game-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Sophomore David Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) chipped in with 14 points, three assists, and three steals, while junior JT Himmelstein (Glenddale, Ariz.) contributed five boards, five assists, and three steals. The Fighting Scots shot 51.0 from the field (25-49) for the game, but hit at just a 40.0 percent clip (8-20) in the second half.
Gordon used a 15-2 run midway through the first half to build a commanding 17-point lead at 31-14 with 6:38 remaining, but Babson turned up the defensive pressure during an 11-0 burst that cut the Beavers' deficit back to 31-25 with three minutes left. Dempsey scored six of his 10 first-half points during the Fighting Scots' early run, while Babson's comeback was fueled by four points each from Noonan and Braithwaite. Gordon would later take a 10-point advantage into the break thanks to a driving hoop by Dempsey with two seconds left that made it 37-27.
The Fighting Scots pushed their lead to 12 twice in the early moments of the second, including a 41-29 cushion after a Jordan Kelly (Braintree, Mass.) lay-up just over three minutes in. However, Rudolph and junior captain Matt Florio (Skillman, N.J.) hit back-to-back three-pointers to ignite a 27-8 Babson run over the next nine minutes that gave the Beavers a 56-49 advantage with 8:29 left to play.
Gordon would get back to within four twice in the final two minutes of regulation, including a 65-61 deficit with 37 ticks left. However, McDermott, Noonan, and Braithwaite each hit two of two from the line in the final 35 seconds to clinch the 71-61 Babson victory.