Flannery Becomes Program's All-Time Leader In Made Free Throws In 36-Point Effort
NORTON, Mass.—Junior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) scored a season-high 36 points and became the program's all-time leader in made free throws as visiting Babson College defeated Wheaton College, 92-81, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Emerson Gymnasium.
With its fourth consecutive victory, Babson is now 10-4 overall and 4-0 in conference play, while Wheaton drops to 7-7 overall and 1-3 in the NEWMAC.
Flannery went 10-of-22 from the floor and 10-of-12 at the free throw line to go along with nine rebounds and two assists. Junior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) added 13 points and seven boards, while sophomore Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) scored 10 points and pulled down six caroms. Junior Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) contributed eight points, four rebounds and three assists, and classmate Matthew Droney (Canton, Mass.) chipped in with seven points and a team-high five assists.
Senior Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn.) paced four Lyons in double figures with 23 points and six assists.
Wheaton knocked down four early three-pointers and took its biggest lead of the game at 18-11 just over seven minutes into the opening half. The Green and White responded with a 14-2 run that included eight points from Comenale to take a 25-20 edge at the 6:41 mark. Flannery connected on a pair of triples and first-year Tyler Colon (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.) added another three-pointer to give Babson a 38-31 advantage at the break.
A trifecta by Flannery and a bucket by sophomore Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) gave the Beavers a 47-38 lead just over three minutes into the second half, but Wheaton followed with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 49 on a three-pointer by junior Quinton Dale (Winthrop, Mass.). Babson came right back and pushed its lead to 59-51 on a jumper by junior David Stauffer (York, Pa.), but the Lyons countered with a 10-4 burst to pull within 63-61 on a free throw by sophomore Liam Bruno (Newton, Mass.) with 9:15 to play.
After trailing by as many as 10 with just over five minutes remaining, the Lyons cut their deficit to 78-76 on two free throws from sophomore Ryan Fogarty (Walpole, Mass.) with 3:12 to go. Flannery answered with a three-point play on the next Babson possession and Bohmiller followed with a triple from the right win after the teams exchanged hoops to make it 86-79 with 1:29 left. Following a turnover, Flannery dribbled out the shot clock before drilling his sixth three-pointer of the game to seal the win.
The Beavers shot 50 percent (32-of-64) from the floor and connected on a season-high 12 three-pointers. The Green and White also finished with a 44-28 edge on the glass outscored Wheaton 34-30 in the paint.
The Lyons shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) overall and went 10-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson hosts MIT at 7 p.m., while Wheaton travels to Emerson for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 31-11 all-time against Wheaton and have won 13 straight in the series going back to 2011.
• Flannery, who now has 425 made free throws in his career, passed the previous mark of 419 set by Jim Pierrakos '92 and Jeff Hines '04.
• Babson has now shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line in four consecutive games.
• The Beavers have won 13 straight NEWMAC road games going back to February 1, 2014.