CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Babson men's basketball team committed five turnovers in the final 3:03 as fifth-ranked MIT pulled away late for a 59-47 victory in NEWMAC action at Rockwell Cage on Wednesday night. Junior Russell Braithwaite recorded 10 points, 12 rebounds, and five steals in the loss for the Beavers, who fell to 11-12 overall and 4-6 in league play.

MIT (21-1 overall, 9-1 NEWMAC) receoved 13 points and five assists from Mitchell Kates, 11 points from Jamie Karraker, and 10 points from Noel Hollingsworth. Will Tashman just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards for MIT, which outscored the Beavers 34-15 in the second half.

For Babson, junior Marcus McDermott joined Braithwaite in double figures with 12 points. Junior Alex Rudolph added eight points and five rebounds, and sophomore Matt Palazini contributed seven points off the bench.

After surging out to an early 8-2 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from McDermott, Babson would maintain the advantage until the final six minutes of regulation. The Beavers led by as many as 11 after a Palazini jumper made it 26-15 with 4:04 to go in the first half, and after MIT cut its deficit to seven at the break (32-25), Babson opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take the largest lead of the game, 40-27, with 16:03 left to play.

The Engineers began their comeback with 11 straight points over the next seven and a half minutes, including back-to-back lay-ups by Tashman that made it 40-38 with 9:43 to go. Babson pushed its lead back to five with three free throws by first-year David Mack, but MIT answered with eight more unanswered points to take its first lead of the contest, 46-43, with 4:20 remaining.

Braithwaite hit a lay-up to pull Babson back to within one at 46-45 with 3:41 left, but that would be as close as the Beavers would get the rest of the way. MIT closed the game with a 13-2 run, thanks to an 11-for-12 performance from the free throw line and five Babson turnovers in the final three-plus minutes. It was the Engineers' fifth straight victory since suffering their only loss of the season to WPI on January 21.

Babson returns to action next Wednesday night, when the Green and White host Wheaton in a pivotal NEWMAC contest at 5:30 p.m.