Babson, Park, MA --- The visiting WPI men's basketball team shot 62.5 percent in the second half to pull away from host Babson College, as the 12th-ranked Engineers recorded a 69-55 victory in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest at Staake Gymnasium on Saturday.
With its 13th consecutive victory, WPI (20-3 overall, 10-0 NEWMAC) clinches the outright regular season conference title and as the top seed will host the NEWMAC Semifinals and Finals on February 26 and 27. The 20-win season is also the Engineers' eighth straight – the second longest streak in the country behind only Wooster's 15 – and the 10-0 league record matches that of the 2004-05 WPI squad as the best in NEWMAC history.
Junior Matt Carr (Somersworth, NH) led the Engineers with 16 points and six rebounds, while senior Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT) and junior Fernando Perez (Lowell, MA) contributed 14 points and thee boards apiece. WPI forced 17 Babson turnovers while shooting 52.8 percent (28-53) from the field, including a sizzling 62.5 percent clip (15-24) in the second half.
Babson (10-12 overall, 5-6 NEWMAC) was led by sophomore Russell Braithwaite (Brooklyn, NY), who led all players with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and a 7-of-11 mark from the line. Sophomore Alex Rudolph (Bal Harbour, FL) added 13 points off the bench, while sophomore Peter Foley (Wells, ME) and Braithwaite paced the Beavers in rebounding with seven and six, respectively. Babson shot just 43.2 percent (19-44) from the floor while forcing 11 WPI turnovers.
Four different players scored during an 8-0 WPI run that turned a 14-10 lead into a 22-10 advantage with 7:22 left in the first half. Babson then answered with an 11-0 run of its own to get back with within one at 22-21 with 2:36 remaining, but the Engineers closed the period with seven straight points, including four by Carr, to take a 29-21 edge into the cloakroom.
A conventional three-point play by Robinson and a jumper by junior Jerome Stewart (Bloomfield, CT) five minutes into the second period gave WPI its largest lead so far at 41-27, but Babson ripped off six straight points, including a spin-move and dunk by Braithwaite with 13:37 remaining, to get back to within single digits at 41-33.
After the Engineers pushed their lead back to 12 with back-to-back buckets by Stewart and Perez, Babson made its final push of the game with a quick 5-0 burst to make it 45-38 with 11:38 to go. The Beavers later cut their deficit to as little as six on a pair of occasions – the last coming after two free throws by Braithwaite made it 50-44 with 8:10 left – but that would be as close as the hosts would get the rest of the way. WPI put the contest out of reach with a 14-5 run over the next five minutes – including seven points by Perez – as the visitors took their largest lead of the day at 64-49. Carr added a big dunk off an offensive rebound with two minutes to go as WPI punctuated the 69-55 victory.
Saturday's game was also part of Babson's fifth annual PinkZone initiative, as the College collected donations at the gate with all proceeds going to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information