Beavers Tie School Record With 18 Three-Pointers, Off to Best Start in School History at 16-1

NEW LONDON, Conn.—Senior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) led all players with 29 points and 11 rebounds as top-ranked Babson College built a 30-point second-half lead on its way to defeating the Coast Guard Academy, 87-72, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Roland Hall.

With its seventh consecutive win, Babson is off to its best start in school history at 16-1 overall and 6-0 in the league, while Coast Guard drops to 5-11 overall and 1-5 in the NEWMAC with its fourth straight loss.

Flannery scored 19 points in the first half and matched his career high with seven of the Beavers' school-record-tying 18 three-pointers. Junior Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) made five triples and finished with 19 points, senior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and classmate Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) contributed 12 points and matched his season high with five assists. Fellow senior Matthew Droney (Canton, Mass.) dished out a season-high six dimes in the win.

First-year Patrick Witkowski (Melrose, Mass.) paced four players in double figures with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds to lead the Bears, while classmate Max Lampe (Gettysburg, Pa.) chipped in with 14 points and nine boards.

Nelsen scored eight points in just over four minutes and junior Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) made the first of Babson's 11 first-half three-pointers to build a 13-8 lead at the 15:29 mark. Coast Guard pulled within one with hoops on back-to-back possessions, but eight of the Beavers' next nine field goals came from beyond the arc as they extended their advantage to 39-25 with 7:43 to go in the period.

The Bears got as close as 11 late in the stanza, but a three-point play by Bohmiller and another trifecta by Comenale pushed the margin to 55-38 going into the locker room.

Senior David Stauffer (York, Pa.) opened the second half with a layup, Nelsen scored back-to-back hoops and the Green and White drained three-pointers on four consecutive possessions to take its biggest lead of the game at 72-42 with 14:53 to play in the contest. Coast Guard responded with a 16-0 to cut its deficit in half and got as close as 13 inside the final four minutes before Flannery knocked down a three-pointer and converted a driving layup on consecutive possessions to push the lead back to 85-67.  

The Beavers shot 48.4 percent overall and 54.5 percent from beyond the arc while finishing with 19 assists on 31 made field goals.

The Bears, who held a 50-37 edge on the glass, shot just 36.3 percent for the game, which includes a 6-of-25 effort from three-point range.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson hosts Clark at 5:30 p.m., while Coast Guard travels to WPI at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 51-26 all-time against Coast Guard and have won 12 straight games against the Bears since 2012.
•    Babson has won 22 straight NEWMAC road games and its 17-game conference winning streak is currently the longest in Division III.
•    The Green and White is now 11-0 on the year when holding its opponents below 40 percent shooting.
•    Flannery is now tied for third in program history with 740 made field goals and is tied for fourth in school history with 167 three-pointers.