HEAD COACH: Stephen Brennan (27th season)
2019-20 RECORD: 20-7 / 10-4 NEWMAC (3rd)
2020-21 RECORD: 8-2
TWITTER: @babsonhoops
INSTAGRAM: @babsonhoops
WHAT TO KNOW
• Following a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2020, Babson returns 11 players from last year's squad, which won eight of 10 games in February and March.
• Head coach Stephen Brennan brings back four of last winter's top six scorers and four players that started at least seven contests in 2021.
• The Beavers ranked among the top 35 in Division III in scoring offense (85.0 points), field goal percentage (48.1) and fewest turnovers 10.2) in 2019-20, and averaged 80.1 points on 46.9 percent shooting in 2021.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
• Senior Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) has started 25 games over the last two seasons and averaged career highs of 13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks last winter. He reached double figures in scoring eight times and recorded a pair of double-doubles.
• Senior James Welch (Needham, Mass.) was second on the team in scoring in 2021 averaging a career-high 14.5 points off the bench while shooting 52 percent from the floor and 47 percent from three-point range. He knocked down 31 triples and finished in double figures in scoring eight times.
• After starting 14 times as a rookie in 2019-20, junior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds in nine starts last year. He boasts a 2.34 assist-to-turnover ratio in 31 career games at Babson.
• Coming off a strong finish to his rookie campaign, junior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) started nine of 10 games and averaged 7.5 points, 3.3 boards and 2.5 assists in 2021. He shot 40 percent from three-point range (14-of-35) and was second on the team in three-point field goals.
• Sophomore John Gorgol (Scottsdale, Ariz.) averaged 4.3 points on 56.5 percent shooting and pulled down 3.7 rebounds while making seven starts in 2021.
• Seniors Max Gussen (Medford, N.J.) and Beau Smith (Germantown, N.Y.) both achieved new career highs in points and rebounds last season. Gussen put up 6.0 points and hauled in 4.0 rebounds in five appearances off the bench, while Smith averaged 5.6 points and 3.1 boards in eight contests.
• Graduate transfers Mitchell Kirsch (Atkinson, N.H.) and Spencer Cline (Mason, Ohio) join the program following successful careers at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Saint Anselm, respectively. Kirsch started 53 times over his final two seasons and averaged 8.1 points in 2019-20 for the Stags, while Cline saw action in 50 games over three years for the Hawks against Northeast-10 Conference competition.
STORYLINES
• The Beavers garnered a pair of first-place votes and finished behind WPI in the NEWMAC preseason poll.
• Babson will play as many as seven games against teams that participate in the 2020 NCAA Tournament and are set to face No. 9 Saint Joseph (Conn.) and No. 25 Brandeis in the opening month of the season.
• Although league play doesn't tip off until January, the Beavers will play five of their first six NEWMAC games at home before finishing the season with six of their final eight contests on the road.
• Babson played 10 games during the 2019-20 campaign that were decided by six points or less or in overtime, which includes five of its seven losses.
