Men's Basketball vs. No. 9 Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Wednesday, November 17 | 7:30 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 0-2 all-time against Saint Joseph (Conn.) with both games coming last season.
• The Beavers dropped both ends of a home-and-home series last March, with the Blue Jays taking a 73-67 victory in Staake Gymnasium on March 6 and pulling out a 92-82 triple-overtime verdict in West Hartford on March 7.

LAST MEETING
• Babson rallied from a 12-point deficit with just over five minutes to go in regulation before falling in three overtimes, 92-82.
• The teams were tied at 62-all at the end of regulation, 66-apiece after one overtime, and 78-all after two extra sessions.
• Andrew Jaworski ('21) recorded his first double-double of the winter with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Andrew Kirkpatrick finished with 19 points, six assists, five boards and four steals and senior Colin Bradanese scored 15 points and blocked four shots. Classmate James Welch also came off the bench to add 14 points in a losing effort.
• Senior Jordan Powell (Middletown, Conn.) scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting and added a game-high 12 rebounds to lead the Blue Jays. Senior Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) finished with 21 points, eight boards and seven assists, while classmate Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) added 17 points.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday, 78-70, at Salve Regina, after opening the season with victories over UMass Boston (69-63), Suffolk (91-66) and Lasell (70-67).
• First-year Nate Amado led the Beavers with 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss to Salve, while graduate student Mitchell Kirsch added 16 points and five boards after knocking down three three-pointers. First-year Rob Crouch contributed 12 points, five assists and four steals in the setback.
• Babson made more baskets (26-25) and more three-pointers (8-4) than Salve but the Seahawks went 24-of-29 at the free throw line while the Beavers were just 10-of-20 from the stripe.
• Bradanese is leading the Beavers with 14.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per outing in the first four games, shooting 49.1 percent from the field. Amado is averaging 13.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, and Kirsch has chipped in with 9.8 points while shooting 50 percent from the field (11-of-22). Welch has contributed 9.0 points through four contests.
• Bradanese was held to just seven points after scoring in double figures in 11 of his previous 13 games dating back to last season.

SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
• Saint Joseph (2-0) opened the season with back-to-back victories over UMaine Augusta and Alvernia in the USJ Tip-Off Tournament on November 6-7. The Blue Jays rolled past UM-Augusta 104-50 and downed Alvernia 76-55.
• USJ was led by the double-double duo of senior Tyree Mitchell, who poured in a game-high 20 points (7-14 FG) and grabbed 11 rebounds in the championship game, as well as senior Jordan Powell, who was efficient as ever (16 points, 12 boards, 4 blocks). Senior Jaecee Martin added 15 points, four assists and three rebounds in the win. Mitchell captured tournament MVP honors and was joined by Martin on the All-Tournament team.
• St. Joe's was picked ninth in the D3hoops.com men's Top 25 preseason poll, and was voted first in the South Division of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll.
• The Blue Jays were 2-2 in a pandemic-abbreviated 2020-21 season after posting a 26-3 mark in the 2019-20 campaign, winning the GNAC Championship and falling to Hobart in the NCAA Tournament First Round before the pandemic hit.

PLAYING TIME
• Babson has 10 players who average at least 10 minutes of playing time per game this season, and 14 who have seen at least five minutes per game.
• Amado leads the Beavers in court time, averaging 25.8 minutes per game, followed by Bradanese at 24.3 minutes per outing. Kirsch (23.5) and Crouch (23.0) are the only others who play at least 20 minutes per game.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
• The Beavers are off to a 3-0 start at home this season. Babson is 8-1 at Staake Gymnasium over the past two seasons, and 17-3 since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

SIZING UP THE GNAC
• With its win over Lasell last week, Babson is 1-0 against schools from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference this season, looking to make it 2-0 against USJ. Babson is 7-2 vs. the GNAC since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, and 16-5 against the GNAC since the start of the 2013-14 season.  

UP NEXT
• Babson will play its next three games against NESCAC opponents, starting this Saturday at Staake Gymnasium against Bates College. The Beavers will travel to Waterville, Maine, next Tuesday to take on Colby College, and return home to host Bowdoin College on Sunday, November 28.