BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior John Wickey (Manchester, N.H.) and sophomore Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) both scored 19 points, and eighth-ranked Babson College shot 63.6 percent to pull away from visiting Springfield College, 76-57, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Staake Gymnasium.
With its eighth straight win, Babson is now 20-2 overall and 10-1 in NEWMAC play for the first time in program history. Springfield, which entered the night ranked seventh in the initial NCAA regional rankings after winning six consecutive games, drops to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the league.
Wickey went 6-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-8 at the free throw line, while Flannery finished 7-of-14 from the field to go along with six rebounds and a team-high four assists for the Beavers. Sophomore Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) added 10 points, senior Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H.) finished with nine, and classmate David Mack (Holden, Mass.) contributed five points, a game-high eight boards, and three assists in the win.
Senior Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) scored 16 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists to lead the Pride. Junior Alex Garstka (Westfield, Mass.) added 15 points, all in the second half, on 5-of-6 shooting.
Leading 9-8 at the 14:24 mark, Babson outscored Springfield 13-4 over the next seven minutes to build a 10-point lead. Wickey and Flannery combined for three free throws to make it 12-8, and sophomore Matthew Droney (Canton, Mass.) followed with a runner to push the lead to six. A jumper by senior Nick Sinkiewicz (Cranston, R.I.) cut the Pride's deficit to 16-2, but two hoops by Flannery and another from Droney gave the Beavers their biggest lead of the stanza at 22-12 with 7:25 to go until halftime.
Springfield, despite missing 16 of its first 21 shots, pulled within 29-24 on a layup by Martin with 2:10 left in the stanza. Wickey answered with a pair of free throws and a reverse layup before junior Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) knocked down a jumper just before the buzzer to cut Babson's lead to 33-26 at the break.
Leading 42-34 following a layup by Pride first-year Brandon Eckles (East Greenwich, R.I.), the Green and White put the game away with a decisive 17-6 run. The Beavers scored on five consecutive possessions, including six points from first-year Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) to push their lead to 52-37 at the 11:24 mark. Flannery then scored Babson's next seven points, including a deep pull-up trey from the top of the key with the shot clock running down to make it 59-40 with 7:19 remaining in the contest.
Flannery converted a feed from Mack to make it a 21-point game with just over five minutes to play, and Bohmiller added five straight points, including a three-point play, to give Babson is largest lead of the night at 70-46 with 3:48 to go.
The Beavers went 28-of-44 from the field and held a 44-28 edge in paint scoring. They also shot 89.5 percent (17-of-19) at the free throw line, and outrebounded Springfield, 29-21.
The Pride shot 40 percent (20-of-50) on the night, but struggled from deep, knocking down just four of its 14 three-point field goal attempts.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson travels to Clark at 1 p.m., while Springfield visits Emerson for a 3 p.m. tip-off.
GAME NOTES: Babson is 17-38 all-time against Springfield and Wednesday's victory gave the Beavers their first regular-season sweep of the Pride since 2003…Babson's 20-2 start is its best since the 2002-03 squad opened the season with wins in 21 of its first 23 games…Wednesday's victory gave the Green and White its 20th victory for the 11th time in program history and the sixth time in head coach Stephen Brennan's career…the Beavers' 11 wins at home the most since 2003-04.