WORCESTER, Mass.—Senior Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) and junior Nick Sinkiewicz (Cranston, R.I.) each had 17 points and first-year Nick McKenna (Litchfield, Conn.) buried a pair of three-pointers in overtime as third-seeded Springfield College rallied to defeat second-seeded Babson College, 85-77, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball tournament semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Harrington Auditorium.

With the victory, Springfield (20-6) advances to the championship game for the third consecutive season, while Babson (20-6) sees its seven-game winning streak come to an end. The Beavers will now wait to see if they earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon.

Junior John Wickey (Manchester, N.H.) had 17 points, first-year Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) contributed 16 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, and senior Matt Palazini (Franklin, Mass.) drained five three-pointers on his way to 15 points for the Green and White. Senior Kenny Ross(Furlong, Pa.) dished out a game-high eight assists.

Babson closed a back-and-forth first half with a 9-2 run, sparked by six points from Wickey, to take a 31-26 lead into the locker room. Springfield opened the second period with a 9-3 spurt to grab a 35-34 edge on a layup by Martin at the 17:26 mark, but the Beavers responded with seven straight points to go back in front 41-35 three minutes later.

The Beavers wouldn't trail again in the second half, pushing their lead to as many as nine at 65-56 on a Flannery layup with just under four minutes to go. Martin and Sinkiewicz combined for the Pride's final 14 points though, and forced overtime a layup by Martin with 18 seconds left in regulation. The Green and White had one last crack to win the game, but senior Springfield senior Tim Swenson (Millbury, Mass.) blocked a layup attempt by junior Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H.).

In overtime Babson led 74-73 on a pair of free throws from junior David Mack (Holden, Mass.), but trifectas by McKenna and sophomore Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) sparked a 8-0 run that put the game out of reach.   The Springfield defense took center stage in extra time, holding the Beavers to 2-of-12 shooting from the floor.

Babson shot 42.4 percent from the floor for the game, while the Pride finished at 45.0 percent overall and went 10-of-21 from three-point range. Springfield also scored 21 points off 13 Beavers' turnovers.

GAME NOTES: Babson is now 15-38 all-time against Springfield with both loses to the Pride this season coming in overtime...the teams have now split 10 postseason meetings with Springfield winning the last two...20 of the last 22 games between the Beavers and Pride have been decided by eight points or less, and four of the last seven meetings have been decided in overtime...Saturday's loss was the Green and White's first when leading at halftime, they had won the previous 15 games when going to the locker room with an advantage.