BABSON PARK, Mass. – Babson College held visiting Curry College without a field goal during a pivotal five-minute stretch of the second half en route to a 70-60 victory over the Colonels in a non-conference men's basketball contest at Babson's Staake Gymnasium on Monday night. With the win, the Beavers extended the program's best start in nine years to 6-0, while Curry dropped to 1-3 with the loss.

Junior Russell Braithwaite (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded his first double-double of the season in the win for Babson, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior Marcus McDermott (Milton, Mass.) added a team-high 19 points and five assists, sophomore Matt Palazini (Franklin, Mass.) chipped in with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range, and first-year John Wickey (Manchester, N.H.) contributed six points and eight boards. Five different Beavers recorded two steals apiece in the contest, which saw the hosts force 21 turnovers at the defensive end.

Junior Sadale Jones (Pittsfield, Mass.) led all players with 24 points in the loss for Curry, shooting 8-for-15 from the field, including a trio of three-pointers, and 5-for-7 from the line. Jones also led the Colonels with seven rebounds and five assists. First-year Trae Weathers (Revere, Mass.) came off the bench to score eight points in defeat, senior Andrew Veilleux (Bar Harbor, Maine) added six points and five boards, and senior Michael Connery (Narragansett, R.I.) chipped in with seven points despite battling foul trouble for most of the first half.

Babson used a 12-0 run early in the first half to turn a 10-5 deficit into a 17-10 advantage with six minutes gone by. The Beavers still led by seven at 19-12 after a David Mack (Holden, Mass.) lay-up with 13:27 to go in the half before Curry rattled off seven straight points to tie the contest at 19-19 with 11:21 left. From there, neither team would lead by more than three for the rest of the period, with Babson taking a slim 32-31 edge into the locker room thanks to a pair of free throws from sophomore Connor Boyen (Woodbury, Conn.) with 36 seconds remaining.

The Beavers surged out to a quick five-point lead in the opening three minutes of the second half, but Curry again closed the gap and eventually pulled even at 37-37 on a three-pointer by sophomore Lambros Papalambros (Quincy, Mass.) with 15:23 to go. However, that would prove to be the last field goal for more than five minutes for the Colonels, as Babson embarked on a 14-4 run to take control of the game. Palazini hit a pair of trifectas during the decisive stretch, while McDermott capped the run with a steal and fast-break lay-up to make it 51-41 with 10:29 remaining.

Curry got back to within seven on two occasions over the next two minutes, but that would be as close as the Colonels would get for the remainder of the contest. The Beavers' lead reached 11 three times in the final five minutes as they held on for the 70-60 victory.

Babson will put its win streak on the line against this Thursday, when the Green and White travel to Emerson for a 7 p.m. contest. Meanwhile, Curry opens its TCCC schedule with a road game at Nichols on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.