BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) scored a game-high 20 points to help ninth-ranked University of Saint Joseph defeat Babson College, , in non-conference men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.

Babson, which has dropped back-to-back games, slips to 3-2 on the year, while Saint Joseph improves to 3-0.

Senior Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) finished with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go along with seven rebounds to lead the Beavers. Graduate student Spencer Cline (Mason, Ohio) scored a season-high 10 points and first-year Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards in the loss.

Martin went 8-of-14 from the floor and added six rebounds and four assists for the Bluejays. Senior Tyree Mitchell (East Hartford, Conn.) scored 14 points and junior Jalen Samuels (Franklin, Mass.) came off the bench to finish with 12 points and seven boards.

The Green and White used three straight hoops by Bradanese and a three-pointer by junior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) to take its biggest lead of the night at 18-11 with 11:24 to go in the opening half. Samuels and Martin combined for 13 points during a 15-4 run that put Saint Joseph back in front 22-22 on a dunk by Samuels with 4:52 to go until halftime.

The Bluejays outscored Babson 11-4 over the final 3:08 of the first half and got a bucket by senior Delshawn Jackson Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) to stretch their lead to 39-30 less than a minute into the second. Bradanese and sophomore John Gorgol (Scottsdale, Ariz.) combined for all of the Beavers' next 12 points to cut the deficit to 47-42 at the 14:15 mark before the visitors used an 8-2 spurt to take their first double-digit advantage of the night at 55-44 on a jumper by Martin with 10:52 to play.

The Green and White got a transition layup from Bradanese and a three-pointer by Cline to pull within 56-49 only to see Mitchell knock down a triple and convert a three-point play as part of an 8-0 burst that pushed the Saint Joseph's lead to 64-49 with 6:37 remaining.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Bates at 1 p.m. while Saint Joseph takes on Tufts at 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 0-3 all-time against Saint Joseph's with all three defeats coming over the last nine months.
• Wednesday's loss was just Babson's fourth at home over the last 21 games going back to the start of the 2019-20 season.
• The Beavers were held to a season-low 22 points in the point against Saint Joseph.
• Wednesday's contest was Babson's first against a top-10 opponent since January 30, 2019, when it fell at home to seventh-ranked MIT.