BOX
SCORE
SALEM, Mass. -- The Babson College men's basketball team resumed
its 2009-10 season with a 98-87 victory over Becker College in the
first round of the Salem State Holiday Classic on Tuesday
afternoon. With the win, the Beavers improved to 4-5 on the year.
Babson's deep bench proved critical in Tuesday's win, as the
contest featured a total of 60 personal fouls and six
disqualifications. As a result, a total of 11 Beavers saw action,
10 of which played at least 10 minutes. Junior Dana
Mauro paced the Green and White with 18 points and five
rebounds, while sophomore Marcus Edwards also
netted 18 despite being limited to just 18 minutes off the bench
due to foul trouble. First-year Marcus McDermott
tossed in 17 points to go with eight rebounds and eight assists,
and junior captain Matt Zoia finished with 16
points while hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range. First-year
Russell Braithwaite added a key performance off
the bench for the Beavers, scoring nine points and pulling down
seven rebounds. Braithwaite, Edwards, and sophomore Matt
Florio all fouled out for Babson, which shot 6-for-13 from
long range and 30-for-40 from the free throw line.
DJ Exum scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting for
Becker, while also recording team-highs of five assists and six
steals. Terrance Favors contributed 23 points and eight rebounds,
and Rajai Leggett added a double-double with 14 points and 12
boards. Favors, Leggett, and Mudia Osewegie each fouled out of the
game for the Hawks, who went 0-for-3 from three-point territory and
21-for-33 from the charity stripe.
Becker led by as many as six twice in the first half, including
a 26-20 cushion after a Favors jumper with 7:19 remaining. However,
first-year Peter Foley put back an offensive
rebound to spark a 10-0 run that put the Beavers in front for good,
as Babson took a 30-26 advantage with just under five minutes left.
The Beavers eventually took a 40-35 edge into the locker room.
Babson never relinquished its lead in the second half, although
Becker made several pushes to keep the game close after the Beavers
had taken double-digit leads. Babson used a 15-2 run early in the
period to inflate its advantage to 18 (57-39) with 16:23 left, but
Becker scored 13 straight points as part of a 17-2 run that pulled
the Hawks back to within thre at 59-56 with 11:16 remaining.
The Beavers once again surged ahead and led by as many as 11 on
two occasions over the next three and a half minutes, only to have
the Hawks climb back to within four, 75-71, with 4:51 to go. Babson
then used an 8-2 spurt to reestablish its double-figure advantage,
and clutch free-throw shooting in the final three minutes helped
the Beavers hold on for the 98-87 victory.
Babson will return to action on Wednesday, when they face host
Salem State at 7 p.m.
