Jan. 23, 2008

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Babson College held visiting WPI to more than 50 points below its season scoring average and senior tri-captain Kyle McDonald (Wethersfield, Conn.) scored 29 points as the Beavers stunned the Engineers, 53-36, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball contest at Staake Gymnasium on Wednesday night. With the win, Babson improved to 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the conference, while WPI, which averaged a league-leading 89.1 points per game coming in, fell to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in the NEWMAC.

Babson was magnificent on the defensive end, holding WPI to just 14 points on 8.7 percent shooting (2-for-23) in the second half. Meanwhile, McDonald turned in one of his best performances of the season on offense, scoring a game-high 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and a 6-of-8 clip from the line. The senior point guard was the only Beaver in double-figures, with junior Pat Belniak (Sutton, Mass.) posting the next highest total with eight points. Seniors Brian MacDonald (Beverly, Mass.) and Greg Bush (East Islip, N.Y.) each added six points and seven rebounds, while Belniak and senior tri-captain Chris Bradley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) collected six boards apiece. Junior Zach Etten (Hollis, N.H.) dished out a game-high five assists for Babson, and McDonald and Belniak each recorded three steals.

WPI was led by senior Antoine Coleman (Everett, Mass.), who finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and four steals. First-year Kyle Nadeau (Webster, Mass.) added nine points off the bench, but no other Engineer scored more than four. Senior Jim Marois (Worcester, Mass.) was the team's leading rebounder with seven, while junior NT Izuchi (Boston, Mass.) joined Coleman with five boards. WPI suffered through a miserable night from the field, shooting just 23.1 percent (12-52) for the floor, including an 8.0 percent (2-25) mark three-point range.

In a defense-dominated first half, WPI took a slim 22-21 lead into the break behind eight points from Coleman and five more from Nadeau. Babson was led by a huge opening stanza from McDonald, as he scored the Beavers' first 12 points and 16 of the team's 21 in the period.

Babson pulled away over the first nine minutes of the second half, holding WPI to just one field goal during a 10-2 run that gave the hosts a 33-24 advantage. Belniak was brilliant during the spurt, scoring seven of his eight points to go along with three rebounds and two steals. The Engineers fought back, however, eventually getting to within six on a free throw by Marois with 9:26 remaining and later trailing by just seven after two freebies by Coleman with 8:10 on the clock.

That would prove to be as close as the visitors would get, as Bush hit huge back-to-back buckets in the lane to extend Babson's lead to 11, 40-29, with 6:36 to play. Junior Jerome Kirkland (Boston, Mass.) answered with two free throws for WPI to make it a nine-point game, but the Beavers embarked on an 11-1 run over the next five minutes to seal the victory. Kyle McDonald scored six points over that stretch, while Brian MacDonald tossed in four more as the Beavers clinched the 53-36 win.