BOX
SCORE
MEDFORD, Mass. -- The Babson College men's basketball team
nearly rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit before finally
falling to Salem State College, 94-89, in the consolation game of
the New England Big Four Challenge hosted by Tufts University on
Sunday afternoon. With loss, the Beavers fell to 3-4 on the year,
while the win was the first of the season for Salem State (1-6).
Junior captain Eric White shot 7-for-11 from
the field for a season-high 17 points in the loss for Babson, while
first-year Russell Braithwaite finished with 16
points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Kris Noonan
also hit double figures with 13 points and five boards, and junior
Shelton Ladson added 11 points.
Salem State was paced by Dan Clark, who netted 22 points, and
Tristian Shannon, who notched a double-double with 12 points and 13
rebounds. Brian Clark added 15 points and seven rebounds, Nick
Linear scored 13 points, and Tavone Wydner tossed in 12 points
to go with three blocked shots.
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the first half,
which featured two ties and six lead changes. Salem State
eventually took a 48-44 edge into the break, thanks to 16
first-half points from Dan Clark.
It remained a two-possession game until the 18:34 mark of the
second half, when the Vikings embarked on a 13-0 run that extended
its lead from six (52-46) to 19 (65-46) in less than four minutes.
Babson still trailed by the same margin, 67-48, with 14:14 left to
play, but the Beavers erupted for a 15-0 spurt that was fueled by
five points apiece from Noonan and White to cut their deficit to
just four, 67-63, with 10:24 left in the game.
Babson got as close as two on four different occasions in the
final nine minutes, including an 89-87 deficit following a pair of
free throws by junior Dana Mauro with 46 seconds
remaining. However, Salem State would never relinquish the lead as
the Vikings connected on four straight free throws on their next
two possessions to push their advantage to 93-87. A lay-up by
Babson first-year Marcus McDermott pulled the
Beavers back to within four with seven seconds left, but Salem
State added one final free throw with five ticks remaining to seal
the 94-89 win.
