LEWISTON, Maine—Junior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) poured in a season-high 35 points, but 24th-ranked Babson College was unable to rally from a double-digit second-half deficit and suffered an 83-78 loss to Bates College in non-conference men's basketball action on Thursday afternoon at Alumni Gym.
Babson, which lost just three games all of last season, has now dropped three straight to slip to 6-4 on the year. Bates, which snapped its three-game skid, is now 5-5 overall.
Flannery, who finished 10-of-25 from the floor, also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his third straight double-double for the Beavers. Sophomore Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while junior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with six boards and five assists.
Junior Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) paced four Bobcats in double figures with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) added 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the win.
The teams combined for six ties and seven lead changes over the opening 11 minutes before Bates used a 7-0 run, capped by a dunk from Boornazian, to grab a 24-18 lead. The Green and White, which trailed by as many as eight on two occasions in the first half, pulled within 31-29 on two free throws by Jacks, but the Bobcats closed the stanza with a 7-2 burst to take a 38-31 advantage into the locker room.
The Beavers scored on six of their first eight possessions to open the second half, including a pair of three-pointers by Flannery, to cut their deficit to just 47-44 on a layup by Nelsen with 16:09 to play. Bates responded with a 9-2 spurt that included a triple from Boornazian and three hoops by Marcus Delpeche to open its biggest lead of the afternoon at 56-46 with 13:51 to play.
Babson got within 68-65 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Flannery at the 4:00 mark, but Bobcats' junior Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) converted a three-point play of his own three possessions later to push the lead back to 72-66. Flannery knocked down a deep trey and then followed with two free throws to pull the Beavers back within 77-74 with 1:27 to play. A layup by Nelsen after a free throw by Malcolm Delpeche made it 78-76 with 43 seconds remaining, but senior Josh Britten (Yarmouth, Maine) buried a three-pointer late in the shot clock on the ensuing possession to seal the victory for Bates.
The Green and White shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) overall, but struggled from beyond the arc, going just 3-of-13.
The Bobcats shot 44.4 percent (32-of-72) and finished with a 47-31 edge on the glass. They also scored 18 points off of 17 offensive rebounds.
Babson returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Emerson in its conference opener at 7 p.m., while Bates takes on Brandeis on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the Naismith Classic at Springfield.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have dropped two straight games to Bates by a total of eight points to even an all-time series that dates back to 1960 at 12-12.
• After going 5-1 against NESCAC opponents a year ago, Babson is 0-4 against the NESCAC this season.
• The Green and White, which entered the game ranked 24th nationally with a +8.6 rebounding margin, was outrebounded for the first time in 10 games this season.
• The Beavers are 2-3 on the year in games decided by five points or less.