BOX
SCORE
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Pat Crean recorded 19 points, including
the go-ahead jumper with 21 seconds remaining, as the Springfield
College men's basketball team rallied in the final minutes to beat
Babson College, 71-68, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic
Conference (NEWMAC) contest on Saturday night.
The win boosts Springfield's record to 11-10, 7-2 in league
action, while the Beavers drop to 9-12 overall and 2-7 in league
play.
Crean added six rebounds and six assists to his 19 points as he
went a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Matt Cavalieri
finished with a game-high 22 points , while Ryan Coburn chipped in
with 16 points and six rebounds. Billy Harkins added a team-best
eight rebounds for the Pride.
For Babson, junior Dana Mauro came off the
bench to lead the way with 13 points and eight rebounds, while
junior captain Matt Zoia provided a team-best 15
points and six assists. Sophomore Matt Florio was
the only other member of the visitors to notch double digits in the
scoring column as he pumped in 10 points. As a team, Babson drilled
eight three pointers, including four by Zoia.
The visitors took a four-point lead with 1:56 remaining as
sophomore Marcus Edwards completed his
conventional three-point play from the foul line. However, a
technical foul gave the Pride a pair of free throws at the other
end, and Cavalieri knocked down one of two to make it a three-point
ball game, 68-65.
Springfield came up empty on their next possession, but got a
stop on the other end to keep it a one possesion game. Coburn then
took a feed from Crean and knocked down a baseline jumper to cut
the lead to one with just over a minute remaining. After the
Beavers came up empty on their next possession, Crean backed down
his man and hit a jumper from the left block to give SC a 69-68
lead.
Babson turned the ball over its next time down the court and
Cavalieri buried a pair of freebies to ice the game. Babson had one
final chance but rookie Alex Rudolph's three-point
attempt rimmed out as time expired.
The Pride led by as many as five in the second half after an
Evan Christner lay up at the 11:19 mark, but Babson put forth a
furious rally with an 8-0 run capped off by a Florio triple to take
a 57-54 lead.
Springfield shot the ball well in the first half, connecting on
14-of-27 shots (51.9%). After a back-and-forth start to the opening
stanza, Springfield finally seized control after Babson went up
one, 23-22, on a Zoia free-throw. Against Babson's press, Coburn
broke free for a pair of dunks, including an emphatic flush that
kick started a 14-4 run which gave Springfield its largest lead of
the stanza, a nine-point cushion.
NOTE: Taken from a Springfield College press release.
