Beavers' Clinch Share of Third Straight NEWMAC Regular Season Title with 13th Straight Win

WORCESTER, Mass.—Junior Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half as top-ranked Babson College rolled to a 77-50 victory over Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Kneller Athletic Center.

With its 13th consecutive win, Babson is now 22-1 overall and clinched at least a share of its third consecutive NEWMAC regular seasons title. Clark, which has lost three straight games, drops to 13-10 overall and 5-7 in the league.

Junior Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, while senior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, all in the first half, for the Beavers.

Senior Lamar Berk (Saint Augustine, Fla.) scored 12 points and pulled down four rebounds to lead the Cougars. Junior John Pisacreta (Andover, Mass.), who scored 21 points in the first meeting between the teams back in January, was held scoreless on 0-of-11 shooting.

The Green and White started 14-of-17 from the floor, keyed by Comenale's 4-of-4 effort from beyond the arc to build a 34-14 lead with 10:03 to go in the first half. Comenale scored 11 early points to give the Beavers a 17-9 lead less than five minutes into the contest.

Babson took its biggest lead of the opening period at 45-23 after four straight points from senior Charlie Rice (Barnstable, Mass.), and added to its 48-28 edge at the break with a 17-6 run to begin the second half. The Green and White limited the Cougars to just one field goal over the first 10 minutes of the stanza and led by as many as 31 at 65-34 with less than 13 minutes to go in the game.  

Babson, which shot 58 percent in the first half, finished at 53 percent for the game. The Beavers also dished out 22 assists on 30 made shots and outrebounded Clark, 41-29.

The Cougars shot just 29 percent overall and finished 7-of-21 from beyond the arc.

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

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 31-38 all-time against Clark and have won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the teams.
•    Babson extended the longest conference winning streak in Division III to 22 games on Saturday.
•    The Beavers have also won 25 straight NEWMAC road games and 32 straight Saturday contests.
•    With four made shots on Saturday, Flannery passed Tim Vincent '73 as the program's all-time leader with 776 career field goals.