BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) led all scorers with 17 points and classmate Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) added 15 and five rebounds as Babson College rolled past visiting Clark University, 80-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at STaake Gymnasium.
With its seventh consecutive win, Babson (17-5, 11-1 NEWMAC) clinched at least a share of its second straight regular-season league title, while Clark drops to 6-17 overall and 3-9 in conference play.
Junior Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, while classmate Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, six boards and a game-high five assists for the Beavers.
Senior Tyler Huffman (West Hartford, Conn.) led the Cougars with 10 points and two assists.
After struggling to find a rhythm for much of the opening half, the Green and White knocked down five of its final eight shots and broke the game open with a 13-0 spurt. First-year Tyler Colon (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.) started the run with a corner three, Jacks followed a pair of Flannery hoops with a three-point play and Bohmiller drilled another triple from the left wing to give the Beavers a 32-19 advantage at the break.
Huffman and junior David Mercier (Milford, Conn.) scored on back-to-back possessions to pull Clark within nine 45 seconds into the second half, but Babson ran off the next 11 points to extend its lead to 43-23 on a jumper by senior Travis Sheldon (Woodstock, N.Y.) with 15:34 to play. Commenale then buried consecutive treys to help the Beavers stretch their advantage to 55-29 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
The Cougars cut their deficit to 20 on a layup by first-year Brendan Kittredge (Clinton, Mass.) with a little over nine minutes left, but the Green and White responded with a 17-6 run to take its biggest lead of the afternoon on a free throw by junior Kyle Rodegher (Andover, Conn.) at the 4:01 mark.
The Beavers shot 50 percent (31-of-62) from the floor and finished a perfect 11-of-11 at the charity stripe. They also scored 16 points off turnovers and finished with a 40-26 edge in paint scoring.
Clark shot just 30.8 percent (20-of-65) overall and were just 3-of-19 from beyond the arc. The Cougars, who got 24 points from their bench, finished with a 39-38 advantage on the glass.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as Babson travels to Coast Guard, while Clark hosts Springfield.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 29-38 all-time against Clark and have won eight of the last 10 games between the teams.
• Flannery, who has now reached double figures in 34 consecutive games, was held without a free throw or a free throw attempt for the first time in 41 games.
• Babson has won 24 of its last 25 games against NEWMAC foes, and 19 of its last 21 against conference opponents at home.
• Saturday's contest marked the final regular-season home game for Sheldon, who has helped the Beavers to an overall record of 80-28 over the last four years.