Jan. 24, 2007

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Springfield College held host Babson College to just 24.0 percent shooting in the second half as the Pride rallied from an early 13-point deficit to claim a 64-58 victory in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball contest on Wednesday night. With the win, Springfield improved to 9-10 overall and 4-2 in the conference, while the Beavers slipped to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the NEWMAC.

Juniors Greg Bush (East Islip, N.Y.) and Kyle McDonald (Wethersfield, Conn.) led Babson early on, as they combined to score 22 of the team's first 30 points to help the Beavers take a 30-18 lead with 7:22 left in the opening half. The Green and White eventually led by as many as 13 after sophomore Zach Etten (Hollis, N.H.) drained a three-pointer to make it 36-23 with five minutes remaining, but Springfield scored the final seven points of the period to head into the break trailing by only six.

After scoring the Pride's final four points of the first half, junior Gregg Daly (Farmington, Conn.) dominated in the second, netting six straight points during a 12-4 Pride run that knotted the contest at 42-42. The two teams then battled back and forth the rest of way, with Babson taking its final lead of the contest, 56-55, on a jumper by Bush with 4:26 remaining in the game. On the ensuing possession, Daly drained a turnaround jumper from the right block to put his team in front, 57-56 - a lead the Pride would never relinquish.

A bank shot from the right wing by junior Jamaal Gibbs (Norwalk, Conn.) pushed Springfield's advantage to 59-56 at the three-minute mark, but Bush drew a foul and sank a pair of free throws to bring Babson back to within one. First-year Ryan Blackmon (Stamford, Conn.) then hit a huge shot amidst heavy traffic in the lane to give the Pride a 61-58 cushion, and Daly followed with a crucial steal in the post to give the visitors the ball back with 1:14 to go. Blackmon knocked down two free throws to make it 63-58 with 41 ticks remaining and, after the Beavers misfired on a three-point attempt, the rookie swingman sank one more freebie to finish off the 64-58 victory.

Daly was magnificent in the win for Springfield, hitting 8-of-11 from the floor for a team-high 19 points. Blackmon also shot well, connecting on 5-of-8 from the field, for 15 points, and Gibbs added 14 points and five boards while shooting 6-for-8 from the floor. As a team, the Pride hit 26 of their 47 field goal attempts (55.3 percent) while holding a 33-23 rebound advantage.

Bush was stellar in defeat for Babson, scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down seven rebounds while hitting 8-of-13 from the field. McDonald boasted a 6-for-8 clip from the floor for 14 points off the bench, but the rest of the team struggled mightily from the field, shooting just 24.2 percent. After hitting 55.2 percent of their shot attempts in the opening period, the Beavers hit just 6-of-25 from the field in the second stanza.