BABSON PARK, Mass.—Babson College opened the second half with a 16-2 run and four players reached double figures to help head coach Stephen Brennan record the 400th win of his career as the Beavers defeated visiting Emerson College, 90-69, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson, which has won two straight games, improves to 15-9 overall and 8-5 in league play, while Emerson drops to 13-11 overall and falls into a three-way tie with the Beavers and WPI at 8-5 in the NEWMAC.
Sophomore Andrew Jaworski (Tolland, Conn.,) scored 25 points, junior Jack Coolahan (Newtown, Pa.) added 22 points, and classmate Shyheim Ulrickson (Topsham, Maine) contributed 13 points and six assists for the Beavers. Fellow junior Frank Oftring (North Attleboro, Mass.) chipped in with eight points and four dimes, while first-year Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) finished with eight points and two blocked shots.
First-year Zach Waterhouse (Hampton, N.H.) scored 20 points and senior Geoffrey Gray (Newton, Mass.) finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Lions. Junior Jack O'Connor (Newport, R.I.) also had 12 points but struggled from the floor shooting just 4-of-15.
The Green and White connected on six of its first nine shots to build an 18-12 edge seven minutes into the contest, and took its biggest lead of the half at 27-19 on a three-pointer by Coolahan at the 6:24 mark. Emerson responded with a 9-2 spurt to get within one on a triple by first-year Trevor McLean (Boston, Mass.), but Jaworski canned another three and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to extend the Beavers' advantage back to 35-30 at the break.
Babson broke the game open by scoring by scoring 12 straight points to open the second half. Coolahan followed up a three-pointer by converting a feed from Ulrickson for a three-point play, and Johnson scored three straight hoops in transition to push the lead to 47-30. The Lions trailed by as many as 19 after a layup by Jaworski at the 16:29 mark before responding with a 22-7 burst that cut their deficit to just 58-54 after back-to-back triples by O'Connor and Waterhouse with 8:59 to play.
Emerson would get no closer though, as the Beavers scored on each of their next six possessions to extend the margin back to 72-60 on a three-pointer by Oftring with 4:42 remaining. Ulrickson drilled another trifecta at the 2:12 mark and Babson went 14-of-16 at the free throw line over the final 1:42 to pull away.
The Beavers shot 48.3 percent for the game, scored 19 points off of 18 Emerson turnovers, and outscored the Lions 23-11 at the charity stripe.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Springfield at 2 p.m., while Emerson takes on Coast Guard at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 25-3 all-time against Emerson.
• Brennan, who was selected as the NABC Coach of the Year after leading Babson to the national title, is now one of 36 active Division III coaches with 400 wins.
• The Green and White is 12-0 this season when holding its opponents below 70 points, while Emerson is just 2-9 when failing to score at least 80 points.
• Over the last three games, Jaworski is averaging 21.3 points on 65.6 percent shooting, while Coolahan is contributing 17.3 points on 50 percent shooting.