WORCESTER -- Tournament Most Outstanding Player Nate Amado (Hanson, MA) finished with a game-high 17 points to propel third-seeded Babson to a hard-earned 59-53 victory over top-seed and host WPI in the title game of the 2023 NEWMAC Men's Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon at Harrington Auditorium.  The win gives the Beavers their fifth-ever NEWMAC postseason crown.

The No. 21 Engineers fought right until the very end as WPI came up just short of their second-consecutive NEWMAC Championship and fifth overall.  Aidan Callahan (Rowley, MA) and Andrew Lufkin (Auburn, NH) came up big on the offensive glass down the stretch, reeling in an offensive board after a free throw miss and laying it in to bring the Engineers within four, 49-45 with 5:49 to go.  

A few possessions later, as Lufkin headed to the line for three free throw attempts, he completed a rare five-point play, draining the first two free throws, coming up big with an offensive board, and dishing it out to Sevilla who drained a three and made it a two-point game, with Babson still slightly ahead 53-51.  

The Engineers came up with some big stops but just didn't have enough gas in the tank to finish as Babson hit its free throws down the stretch to seal the victory and NEWMAC Championship.  

This is not the end for the Engineers as the nation's 21st-ranked team will await the NCAA Tournament bracket reveal which will take place on Monday, Feb. 27 at 1 pm ET on NCAA.com. An at-large appearance in this year's NCAA Tournament would mark the third-straight for WPI.  Babson will also learn its draw on Monday afternoon. 

WPI featured a trio of double-digit scorers with Callahan leading the way with 13 points (all in the second half) and four rebounds while John Adams (Douglas, MA) added 12 points and nine boards, and Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, CA) netted 11 points and a trio of rebounds. The Engineers' leading scorer John Lowther (Hingham, MA) ended the day early with an injury finishing with six points in just 11 minutes of action.  

The visitors were paced by Amado, who drained 5-of-9 3-pointers and added four rebounds, Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, NJ) added 13 points, eight rebounds, and four assists and Timmy O'Toole (Milton, MA) added five points and pulled down 11 rebounds.  

Babson jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead thanks to back-to-back treys from Gao and Amado and maintained that strong lead throughout the entirety of the first half. Four of Babson's first five baskets of the game came from deep to give the Beavers a 14-6 advantage less than seven minutes into the game.  

The Engineers made it a four-point game with 9:49 remaining, rallying with a 6-0 run to make it a 16-12 ballgame, but Babson answered right back with back-to-back buckets, building its lead back to nine, 21-12.  

Another Engineer burst once again made it within four, but just as before Babson responded and built back a double-digit lead heading into halftime with a 31-21 lead.  

After the half, WPI burst out on a 12-2 run in the first five minutes of action as a pair of free throws followed by a jumper from Callahan started things off. Sevilla drained a three (after a Babson bucket), Adams made three-straight free throws and a J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) jumper evened the score at 33-apiece to reset the game with 14:49 to go in the second half.  

A Sevilla free throw gave WPI its first lead of the game at the 12:50 mark of the second half but back-to-back treys from Amado and O'Toole gave Babson a four-point lead, 41-37 with 9:04 to go.  

Babson steadily grew its lead to eight over the next few minutes as the two teams traded buckets, with the Beavers relying on the long ball to help control the ballgame and hold off WPI's final push.

The matchup was the first-ever between the two squads in the title tilt despite 18 combined appearances (WPI 11 and Babson 8) in the first 23 NEWMAC Tournament championship games.