BOX SCORE

BABSON PARK, Mass. - The Babson College men's basketball team defeated Wheaton College 69-67 in overtime for their third straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win at Staake Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Senior captain Zach Etten (Hollis, N.H.) led the way for the Beavers with 26 points and eight rebounds, including two game-winning free throws with 2.5 seconds left in the extra session. With the win, the Beavers improve to 11-10 (3-5 NEWMAC) while the Lyons are now 13-9 (5-4 NEWMAC).

Etten hit the game-winning free-throws with 2.5 seconds remaining in the overtime period and added a steal at the last second to help lead the Beavers to victory. First-year Kris Noonan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine) had his first career double-double, coming off the bench to score a career-high eighteen points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Shelton Ladson (New York, N.Y.) added nine points in the win.

For Wheaton, first-year Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, Mass.) had a team high-18 points, including the game tying three-pointer with 6.5 seconds remaining in regulation to force the overtime. Sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) had 13 points for the Lyons and junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, Va.) and sophomore Ryan Sasso (Peabody, Mass.) each added 12.

Babson led by as many as 12 points in the first half before taking a 34-25 advantage into the break. The Beavers then pushed their advantage to as many as 13 in the second half, but Wheaton fought back to within one with three minutes remaining.  A pair of Etten free-throws gave the Beavers a three-point lead with just sixteen seconds remaining, setting up Weeks' huge three-point shot from the left wing that tied the game with just 6.5 seconds on the clock. Babson was unable to get a potential winning shot off as Weeks came up with a key steal at half court to send the contest into overtime.

In the overtime period, seven of Babson's nine points came from the free-throw line. The Beavers took a five-point lead with just over two and half minutes to play, only to have Wheaton once again tie the game with 26 seconds left on another three-pointer from Weeks.  A Lyons foul with 2.5 seconds remaining brought Etten to the line where he made both shots to put Babson up 69-67. An interception from Etten on the inbounds pass sealed the win as the Beavers clinched the thrilling two-point victory.

Babson returns home on Wednesday evening for an 8 pm NEWMAC game against MIT and Wheaton will host Springfield next Saturday the 14th at 1pm.