BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) led five players in double figures with 22 points and six rebounds as Babson College defeated visiting Wheaton College, 86-75, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Staake Gymnasium.
With its fourth straight win, Babson is now 14-5 overall and 8-1 in league play, while Wheaton drops to 8-11 overall and 2-7 in the NEWMAC.
Junior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Beavers. Junior David Stauffer (York, Pa.) finished with 12 points and sophomore Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) chipped in with 11 points, a game-high four assists and three blocks in the win.
Senior Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn.) led all scorers with 26 points to go along with five rebounds for the Lyons, while junior Quinton Dale (Winthrop, Mass.) added 19 points, six boards and three blocks.
Wheaton made nine of its first 14 shots and took its biggest lead of the game at 23-17 on a layup by junior Timothy Berry (Sterling, Mass.) with 9:31 to go in the first half. The Green and White followed eight straight points to go back in front 25-23 on a bucket by Nelsen at the 7:22 mark, and then closed the half with a 10-2 burst to take an eight point lead at the break. Flannery started the run with a three-point play, junior Charlie Rice (Barnstable, Mass.) knocked down a trey and classmate Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) followed two Flannery free throws with a layup in transition to make it 43-35 going to the locker room.
Babson used a 12-4 run that included six straight points from Stauffer to take its biggest lead of the night at 55-39 with 14:04 remaining in the contest. Battaglia, who scored 18 second-half points, and Dale helped the Lyons get as close as 69-63 with just under five minutes left before the Beavers scored on eight of their final 10 possessions to put the game away.
Flannery knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 71-63 at the 4:28 mark, and Comenale followed with a triple to push the lead back to 11 with 3:45 left. Wheaton made one final push to get within 77-70 with 1:53 left, but Nelsen scored on the ensuing possession and Comenale buried another triple on the next trip to extend the lead to 82-70.
The Green and White shot 52.5 percent (32-of-61), finished with a 35-30 edge on the glass and outscored the Lyons 44-28 in the paint.
Wheaton shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) and scored 19 points off of 12 Babson turnovers.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as the Beavers host No. 19 WPI at 2 p.m., while the Lyons take on Springfield at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson is 32-11 all-time against Wheaton and has won 13 in a row in the series going back to 2011.
• The Beavers have now shot better than 50 percent in four straight games.
• The double-double was the team-leading sixth of the season for Nelsen, who ranks fourth in the league in rebounding.
• Jacks has averaged 21.0 points and is shooting 78.3 percent (18-of-23) from the floor over the last two games.