BABSON PARK, Mass. — Junior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) scored a career-high 21 points and sophomore Kieran Dorney (Garden City, N.Y.) posted his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday evening as Babson College defeated Emerson College, 80-73, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball opener for both schools inside Staake Gymnasium.

With the win, Babson improves to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the NEWMAC while Emerson had its five-game winning streak snapped and drops to 7-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Beavers are 7-1 in their last eight NEWMAC openers.

Kirkpatrick was 7-of-12 from the floor and Dorney was 7-of-16 and both players were 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. First-year Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) and graduate student Mitchell Kirsch (Atkinson, N.H.) added nine points apiece, and senior Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) chipped in with eight points in the victory.

Babson had to overcome a monster night by Emerson senior Jarred Houston (Norwood, Mass.), who finished with an impressive triple-double of 24 points (on 9–of-14 shooting), 19 rebounds and a remarkable career-high of 10 blocked shots. Senior Zach Waterhouse (Hampton, N.H.) was good for 15 points, classmate Nate Martin (Washington, D.C.) added 14 points and junior James Beckwith (Palo Alto, Calif.) chipped in with 13 points off the bench.

The first half started as a one or two-possession game the first six minutes, with Emerson taking a four-point margin at 16-12 after a dunk by Houston and again at 19-15 after a traditional three-point play by Martin. Babson came alive with an 11-3 run over the next six minutes, including four points from Kirkpatrick and a three from Dorney, to pull ahead 26-22 with eight minutes to play.

The Beavers pushed the lead up to nine points with a 7-2 spurt following a bucket by Amado, and outscored the visitors 11-7 over the last five minutes of the half, including a three-pointer by Kirkpatrick at the buzzer, to take a 44-31 lead into the locker room.

Kirkpatrick finished with 16 points at the break on 6-of-10 shooting, and Dorney added 10 points on 4-of-5 from the floor. Houston had 12 points, eight boards and four blocks for the Lions and Martin added 10 points.

Emerson opened the second half with eight straight points in the first four minutes to cut the margin down to five points, 44-39. After a timeout, Dorney hit a three for Babson to stop the bleeding, but Emerson answered with eight unanswered points, including long-range bombs from Beckwith and Waterhouse and a layup by Houston, to tie the score at 47-all with 13 minutes on the clock.

After trading baskets, Babson pulled ahead on a triple by Amado and maintained a narrow lead over the next five minutes but not by more than two possessions. It was a 64-61 Beaver lead with seven minutes remaining when Dorney hit a layup and Kirkpatrick followed with a three to push the lead back up to eight points, 69-61, with 4:30 to play.

After trading a couple of hoops each, the Lions pulled to within five (73-68) after free throws by Waterhouse and Houston with two minutes remaining. Waterhouse hit a running layup with 50 seconds on the clock, but Bradanese answered with a layup with 24 seconds left to push the margin back up to five. Kirkpatrick hit a free throw with 16 seconds to go and Waterhouse made a layup with eight seconds left to get Emerson to within four, but Kirsch hit four free throws to seal the win.

Babson shot 41.4 percent from the field, surpassing the 40 percent mark for the ninth time in 12 games this season, and converted 39.1 percent from three-point range. Emerson shot 46.7 percent from the field but the Beavers outrebounded the visitors, 47-34.

Babson is home again on Saturday, hosting Springfield in a conference tilt at 1 p.m. inside Staake Gymnasium.

GAME NOTES
• Babson had won four in a row over Emerson and has a 28-3 lead in the all-time against Emerson in a series that dates back to 1951-52.
• The Beavers and Lions were picked to finish second and third, respectively, in the preseason coaches' poll, with Babson receiving two first-place votes.
• The Green and White is 6-1 inside Staake Gymnasium this season, and is 10-2 at home since the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign and 20-4 since the start of 2019-20.
• Babson has won 11 of 12 games since the start of the 2020-21 season when winning the rebounding battle.