Comenale Ties Beavers' Single-Season Three-Point Mark With Six Triples

BABSON  PARK, Mass.—Senior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) finished with 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists as top-ranked Babson College defeated the Coast Guard Academy, 103-88, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Staake Gymnasium.

With its 14th straight win, Babson (23-1, 13-0 NEWMAC) clinched its third straight regular season league title, while Coast Guard slips to 6-17 overall and 2-11 in conference play.

Junior Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half and knocked down six three-pointers to tie Mark Giovino '97 as the Beavers' single-season leader. Senior Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) added 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while junior Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) chipped in with 17 points. Classmate Chris Lowry (Woodstock, Conn.) led all players with eight assists in the win.

First-years Max Lampe (Gettysburg, Pa.) and Patrick Witkowski (Melrose, Mass.) both finished with 20 points, while senior Adrian Chuquillangui (Manassas, Va.) and first-year Noah Baldez (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) each added 14 points for the Bears.

The Green and White trailed by as many as seven in the opening minutes, but shot a blistering 62.5 percent in the first half to build a 62-53 lead at the break. Comenale scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Flannery and Nelsen both added 11 points apiece as the Beavers offset a 12-of-19 effort by Coast Guard from beyond the arc to lead by as many as 14 in the period.

Jacks and Flannery combined for all the points in a 12-3 run to open the second half that gave Babson a 74-56 advantage with 15:23 to play. The Bears got as close as 11 on a layup by Baldez with 10:08 remaining, but a pair of hoops by Jacks coupled with five straight points from Flannery extended the Beavers' advantage back to 88-72 at the 6:52 mark.

Babson shot 56.3 percent overall and went 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from beyond the arc for the game. The Beavers also outscored Coast Guard 54-20 in the paint and finished with a 44-32 edge on the glass.

The Bears shot 44.4 percent, but were just 2-of-10 from three-point range in the second half.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts MIT at 3 p.m., while Coast Guard takes on Springfield at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 52-26 all-time against Coast Guard and have won 13 straight meetings between the teams.
•    Babson extended Division III's longest conference winning streak to 24 games, and has now won 19 straight contests at home, giving them the second longest streak in the nation.
•    Flannery, who now has four double-doubles in his last five games, entered the game as one of just two players in all of college basketball averaging better than 21 points, six rebounds and four assist. The other is University of Washington first-year Markelle Fultz, who is currently projected as the top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
•    The Beavers have now won 35 straight games when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.