BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Brandon Johnson (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and junior Frank Oftring (North Attleboro, Mass.) both scored 17 points and Babson College closed the game with a 12-2 run to defeat visiting Bates College, 75-65, in non-conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.

Babson, which has won two straight games, improves to 4-2 on the year, while Bates had its two-game winning streak snapped to slip to 2-3 overall.

Johnson added 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season and first-year Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and five boards off the bench for the Beavers. Sophomore Andrew Jaworksi (Tolland, Conn.) finished with eight points and seven rebounds, while first-year James Welch (Needham, Mass.) contributed seven points in 16 minutes off the bench in the victory.

Junior Jeff Spellman (Boston, Mass.) finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while senior Max Hummel (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting to lead the Bobcats. First-year Andrew Snoddy (Stow, Mass.) and senior Nick Lynch (Westford, Mass.) both grabbed eight boards and chipped in with seven and six points, respectively.

Bates missed 12 of its first 14 shots while Johnson scored six points and junior Julian Alexis (Somerville, N.J.) and Bradanese added four apiece to help the Green and White build a 16-6 lead nearly nine minutes into the contest. The Beavers extended the margin to 12 on a jumper by Oftring and took their biggest of the night at 31-18 on a transition bucket by junior Shyheim Ulrickson (Topsham, Maine) with 4:27 to go in the stanza.

Hummel sparked a 14-4 run with a pair of three-pointers to cut the Bobcats' deficit to 35-32. Babson pushed the lead back to eight at the half, but missed seven consecutive shots coming out of the locker room as Bates rattled off an 11-0 run and took its first lead of the night at 43-40 on another triple by Hummel at the 16:18 mark.

Alexis put the Beavers back in front 50-48 on a driving layup with 12:33 to go. Welch drained a pair of free throws and then canned a three-pointer from the right wing to push the margin to 59-55, but Spellman scored six of Bates' next eight points to pull even at 63-63 with 5:27 left.

Babson answered with hoops on each of its next four possessions to build a 71-63 edge on a bucket by Jaworski with 2:46 to go. Spellman hit two free throws to back within six 12 seconds later, but Johnson converted a layup off a feed from Oftring on the ensuing possession and the Green and White followed with two straight stops to put the game away.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Tufts in the New England Big 4 Challenge at 5 p.m., while Bates will travel to Saint Joseph's for its fifth straight road game at 3 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers now hold a 14-13 edge in the all-time series against Bates.
• After making 37 three-pointers over its last three games, Babson finished just 5-of-25 (20 percent) from beyond the arc in Wednesday's victory.
• The Beavers, who entered the game with a +10.2 margin on the glass, were outrebounded 41-40 by the Bobcats.
• Babson's three turnovers in Wednesday's win are the program's fewest going back to the 2004-05 season.