No. 22 Men's Basketball at No. 15 Springfield
Saturday, February 22 | 2 p.m.
Blake Arena | Springfield, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 25-41 all-time against Springfield in a series that dates back to the 1976-77 campaign.
• The Beavers have won 11 of their last 15 games against the Pride but are looking to avoid getting swept in the regular season for the first time since 2011.
• Babson has been victorious in six of its last seven trips to Blake Arena, and the road team has won three straight games in the series.
• Six of the last nine games between the teams have been decided by five points or less, which includes each of the last three contests by three points.
LAST MEETING
• Senior Jake Ross scored 12 of his 24 points over the final six minutes to lift then-25th-ranked Springfield edged then-14th-ranked Babson, 84-81, on January 8, in Babson Park.
• Senior Trey Witter scored 18 points and classmate Heath Posted added 14 points and 10 boards for the Pride, which went in front for good on a layup by sophomore Collin Lindsay with 1:48 left.
• Junior Andrew Jaworski matched his career-high with 32 points on 13-of-22 shooting for the Beavers, who lost despite shooting 56.5 percent as a team.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• No. 15 Springfield (21-3, 12-1 NEWMAC) has won its last nine games and is coming off an 80-64 victory at No. 21 WPI on Wednesday.
• Ross finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while Post recorded a double-double with 20 points and 11 boards for the Pride, which ended the first half on a 13-2 run.
• Ross (25.2 pts, 9.5 reb, 4.0 ast) ranks 10th in Division III in scoring, Post (17.7 pts, 10.5 reb) is 15th nationally with 14 double-doubles, and Witter (10.2 pts, 2.0 reb) is shooting 45.6 percent from beyond the arc.
• Springfield is averaging 83.8 points on 45.5 percent shooting while committing the fifth fewest turnovers (9.7) in Division III.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 22 Babson (21-4, 11-3 NEWMAC) has won seven of its last eight games and is coming off a 92-77 victory at Emerson on Wednesday.
• Senior Jack Coolahan paced four players in double figures and recorded his first career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore Colin Bradanese added 14 on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor for the Beavers, who went 22-of-23 (95.7 percent) at the free throw line.
• Coolahan (18.5 pts, 4.3 reb) is shooting 53.1 percent from the floor, Jaworski (17.9 pts, 6.3 reb) is just nine points away from 1,000 for his career, and junior Crew Ainge (11.6 pts, 4.6 ast) ranks third in the conference in assists.
• The Green and White is putting 86.3 points on 48.7 percent shooting, which ranks 23rd nationally, and is averaging fewer turnovers than all but six Division III programs.
DYNAMIC DUO
• Coolahan (21.2 points) and Jaworski (20.8 points) are combining for 42 points per game in league play giving the Green and White the highest scoring duo in the league.
• Together they are shooting 51.3 percent from the floor and have combined to make 75 three-pointers while connecting on 42.1 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.
COMING ON STRONG
• Following a 12-game stretch that saw him score no more than two points in any contest, first-year Aaron Gao has been a key cog coming off the bench for the Beavers during the month of February.
• In six games this month he is averaging 6.5 points on 56 percent shooting in addition to contributing 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals.
BATTLING FOR POSITION
• In addition to fighting for home court in next week's NEWMAC Tournament semifinals, Babson is looking to add another quality win to its NCAA Tournament resume on Saturday.
• The Beavers, who are sixth in the latest NCAA regional rankings, own victories over Tufts (4th), WPI (5th) and Amherst (9th) and are 3-2 overall against regionally-ranked foes.
NUMBER TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 8-1 on the road this season, which includes four double-digit victories in conference play.
