Score: Cougars 92, Beavers 89 (OT)

Records: Clark University (8-7, 3-1 NEWMAC) | No. 17 Babson College (12-3, 3-1 NEWMAC)

How it Happened

Juniors Biko Gayman (Fort Pierce, Fla.) and Tyler Davern (Webster, Mass.) tallied 25 and 23 points respectively, including a combined 29 points in the second half to fuel the comeback effort of the Cougars in the victory.

Sophomore Joel Arteaga (Wyncote, Pa.) and Stevens combined for 24 points apiece with each canning a pair of three-pointers. Junior Matthew Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) led all-bench scorers in a strong 22 minutes of action, tallying 13 points to go with nine rebounds.

For Babson, Andrew Jaworski registered a game-high 31 points on 5-of-9 from three-point range, including four in the first half, while also grabbing seven rebounds. Jack Coolahan logged 21 points in 37 minutes while James Welch chipped in with 12 points off the bench.

Clark opened up with a 9-2 scoring run with Arteaga knocking down a pair of threes to get the offense started. Babson quickly came back with a layup from Frank Oftring sparking a 12-point unanswered drive to swing a 14-9 lead to the visitors at 15:35 to go in the half.

The Cougars and Beavers traded buckets over the next few minutes before Coolahan re-ignited the Babson offense, drilling a three-pointer to begin an 8-3 scoring run. With 9:06 left in the stanza, Waggett knocked down a three-pointer of his own to shrink the deficit down to five points.

Babson kept pushing, moving their lead to ten points as a lay-in from Coolahan and back-to-back three-pointers from Jaworski gave the visitors a 39-24 margin. The Beavers edged the Cougars with a 10-6 scoring run throughout the final five minutes of the half to take a 50-35 advantage into the intermission.

Clark's comeback began early in the second half as six unanswered points from the team out of the break sliced the deficit to less than ten points at 50-41. However, Babson would raise the stakes yet again, elevating the lead back up to 19 points with 14:48 to go following a fadeaway jumper in the paint from Jaworski.

The Beavers were able to keep a ten-point lead on the Cougars until the 6:03 mark when a pair of free-throws by Gayman made it a 75-66 deficit. From there, the Cougars resiliency was on full display with a three-pointer from the wing by Davern making it a six-point gap with 4:00 minutes left in regulation (79-73).

The duo of Davern and Gayman took control in the remaining ticks, combining for six of eight unanswered points and tying the game at 81-81 following a lay-up in traffic from Gayman with nine seconds remaining. Ainge got off a good look on the other end in the final second of regulation with his chance rimming out to send the game into overtime.

The Cougars rolled their late second-half momentum into the overtime session as Gayman swung a one-point lead to the host after hitting one-of-two from the charity stripe with 3:28 left. Babson was able to grab a three-point lead on two separate occasions, but the Cougars kept on fighting, tying it back up at 87 apiece following a contested triple by Gayman from the wing with 1:11 left to go.

With just 33 seconds left, Clark received a clutch three-pointer from Stevens in the corner, making good on a dime from Gayman. Moments later, Stevens connected on both chances from the free-throw line to give the Cougars possession of a 92-89 lead with 14 seconds remaining. Babson had the final chance of the game with three-point attempts from Jaworski and Coolahan each hitting the iron before the buzzer sounded on the 92-89 final score. 

Clark shot 30-of-60 (50%) from the floor, including an 11-of-28 shooting display from beyond the arc (39.3%). Babson finished 30-of-70 shooting (42.9%) while knocking down 11-of-28 (39.3%) from three-point range. The Cougars edged the Beavers on the glass by a 39-35 margin.

Up Next

The Cougars hit the road for a three-game stint, starting on Wednesday, January 22 for a 7:00 pm matchup with NEWMAC foe Coast Guard Academy.