Babson Park, Mass. - January 8, 2020- In a showdown of nationally-ranked teams, the Springfield College men's basketball team prevailed by an 84-81 decision over Babson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEMWAC) play on Wednesday evening.

The Pride, which was ranked No. 25 in the most recent D3hoops.com Nationall Poll, improve to 10-2, 1-0, while Babson, the nation's 14th-ranked squad, slipped to 10-2, 0-1.

Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.) led the Pride with 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) poured in 18 points off the bench.  Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) produced his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards to go along with a game-high five assists.  Springfield connected on 50% of its shots in the win (31-62), including a season-best performance from beyond the arc as the Pride drilled 11-of-20 (55%) from deep. 

Andrew Jaworski registered a game-high 32 points for Babson, while both Jack Coolahan and Frank Oftring scored 13 points apiece.  Both Jaworski and Oftring hauled in 10 boards apiece as the Beavers outscored the Pride, 52-28, in the paint.  Babson's 12 turnovers resulted in 18 points for Springfield and the hosts finished the evening shooting 35-for-62 (57%).

Springfield opened up a 19-11 cushion on a baseline jumper from Ross at 12:01, only to have the host Beavers respond with a 15-2 burst, capped off by a bucket from Oftring with 7:39 remaining in the frame, which allowed Babson to take a 26-21 advantage.  Witter would get free for a triple in transition with 3:35 to play to finish off an 11-4 push to give Springfield a 32-30 lead, before Jaworski banked in a trifecta of his own at the horn to put the hosts on top, 40-39, heading into the half.  Jaworski would account for 20 of his team's 40 points at the half, while Witter netted 14 for the Pride.

Collin Lindsay (East Longmeadow, Mass.) finished at the rim just over two minutes into the second half to finish off a 10-2 Springfield burst to make it a 49-42 contest in favor of the Pride.  The lead was short lived as Babson evened things up at 54-all at the 14:19 mark, and another three-point play by Jaworski at 7:58 put the hosts on top, 65-63. Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) would later cash in on a critical trifecta as the shot clock sounded to put the Pride back on top at 66-65, marking the first of five lead changes in the final 6:57.  The Pride took a 75-74 lead when Ross hit a remarkable turnaround fadeway on the baseline with 3:44 to play, but Coolahan's jumper with 2:03 on the clock tied the game one last time at 78-all.  Lindsay got behind the Beavers layup on the next possession to give Springfield the lead for good, and Ross and Post each made a pair from the line down the stretch to seal with win. Ross was dominant down the stretch, scoring 12 points in the final 5:44 to lead the Pride to victory. 

Next up for Springfield will be a meeting with Wheaton on Saturday in Blake Arena at 3 pm. 

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