NORTON, Mass.—Senior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to help top-ranked Babson College defeat Wheaton College, 78-64, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Emerson Gymnasium.  

With its 10th consecutive win, Babson is now 19-1 overall and 10-0 in conference play, while Wheaton slips to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in the NEWMAC with its fourth straight loss.

Senior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) scored 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, while classmate Charlie Rice (Barnstable, Mass.) added 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench for the Beavers. Junior Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) contributed 10 points and classmate Chris Lowry (Woodstock, Conn.) finished with eight points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists in his first career start.

Junior Ryan Fogarty (Walpole, Mass.) scored 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting, while first-year Alex DuBrow (Foxboro, Mass.) added 12 points to lead the Lyons.

The Green and White trailed by as many as five in the opening minutes before embarking on a 25-9 run to seize control of the game. Flannery and Nelsen combined to score 15 points during the spurt, which gave the Beavers a 27-16 on a three-point play by Flannery with 6:38 to go in the half.

Rice scored four straight points to push the lead to 40-26 with 1:36 to go in the stanza, Flannery followed with a layup in transition and senior Matthew Droney (Canton, Mass.) canned a three-pointer from the left wing to give Babson a 45-28 lead just before halftime.

The Beavers pushed the margin to 21 on a triple by Lowry less than four minutes into the second half, and led 61-39 on a layup by senior David Stauffer (York, Pa.) with 13:22 to play. Wheaton pulled within 66-51 on a pair of sophomore Duaka Ekwensi (Morris Plains, N.J.) free throws with 8:19 left, but Rice and junior Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) drained three-pointers as part of a 10-2 run that gave Babson a 76-51 advantage, its biggest of the night, on a layup by Jacks with 3:51 remaining.  

The Beavers shot 48.3 percent from the floor and went 17-of-19 at the free throw line (89.5 percent), while finishing with 18 assists on 28 made field goals.

The Lyons shot just 31.3 percent overall and went 4-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson visits WPI at 2 p.m., while Wheaton travels to Springfield for a 3 p.m. tipoff.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 34-11 all-time against Wheaton and have won 16 consecutive games against the Lyons.
•    Babson's senior class won the 91st game of their careers on Wednesday, which is good for the most victories in a four-year period in program history.
•    The Beavers have now won 23 consecutive NEWMAC road games and have won 20 straight conference games, which is the longest streak in Division III, going back to last season.
•    Babson has held seven of nine conference opponents below 40 percent shooting this season.