Men's Basketball vs. Springfield
Saturday, January 8 | 1:00 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 25-42 all-time against Springfield in a series that dates back to the 1976-77 campaign.
• The Beavers have won 11 of their last 16 games against the Pride but dropped both meetings in 2019-20, getting swept in the regular season for the first time since 2011.
• Seven of the last 10 games between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer.
LAST MEETING
• Jake Ross '20 scored 24 of his game-high 35 points in the second half and overtime as 15th-ranked Springfield held on to defeat 22nd-ranked Babson, 84-78, on February 22, 2020, in the regular season finale inside Blake Arena.
• Jack Coolahan '20 knocked down seven three-pointers and finished with 31 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead the Beavers. Senior Colin Bradanese went 8-of-11 from the floor and posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Crew Ainge '21 dished out a game-high seven assists in the loss.
• Ross went 10-of-17 from the floor and 13-of-17 at the free throw line while pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Pride. Senior Heath Post '20 added 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Trey Witter '20 came off the bench to score 12 points.
• The Pride outscored the Beavers 32-13 at the charity stripe and finished with a 42-36 edge on the glass.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (8-4, 1-0 NEWMAC) is coming off an 80-73 victory over Emerson in the NEWMAC opener on Wednesday in Staake Gymnasium.
• Junior Andrew Kirkpatrick scored a career-high 21 points and sophomore Kieran Dorney posted his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds for Babson in the win. 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 and graduate student Mitchell Kirsch added nine points apiece and Bradanese chipped in with eight points in the victory.
• The Beavers have four players averaging double figures in scoring -- Bradanese (14.8), Amado (12.0), Dorney (10.1) and Fitzpatrick (10.0).
• Dorney has averaged 18.3 points and 12 rebounds in his last three games, knocking down six three-pointers.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Springfield (2-8, 0-1 NEWMAC) fell to preseason favorite No. 24 WPI, 68-52, Wednesday in the conference opener in Blake Arena.
• Junior Panayiotis Kapanides led Springfield with 12 points and nine rebounds, while senior Daryl Costa chipped in nine points and six assists. First-year Tre Hodge added eight points and four steals and classmate Curtiss Blische hauled in eight rebounds for a Springfield squad that shot 18-for-59 (30%) in the contest.
• Sophomore Zeke Blauner leads the Pride in scoring with 12.6 points per game, while senior Collin Lindsay contributes 10.6 ppg while shooting 60.6 percent from the field (40-of-66).
• The Pride are being outscored 74.1-64.6 in their 10 games this season and outrebounded 37.8-31.3.
• Springfield finished 23-5 overall and 11-1 in the NEWMAC in 2019-20 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
AROUND THE BLOCK
• Bradanese passed Luke Weber '05 for fifth place on the program's all-time blocks list on Wednesday. He has 66 for his career.
• His next targets are Jeff Nicholson '04 with 70 blocks, Bradley Jacks '18 with 75, and Tim O'Brien '97 with 78. The career leader is Bryant Richards '96 with 128.
ON THE DEFENSE
• Babson ranks 36th in Division III and second in the NEWMAC in defensive efficiency allowing 0.917 points per possession.
• Division III Men's Basketball Efficiency Ratings are listed at http://tomaroonandgold.blogspot.com/p/division-iii-mens-basketball-efficiency.html and at @fftmag on Twitter.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
• Babson is 6-1 inside Staake Gymnasium this season, outscoring its opponents by 8.5 points per game (75.6-67.1)
• The Beavers are 11-2 at home since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, and 20-4 since the start of 2019-20.
BY THE NUMBERS
• The Beavers have shot at least 40 percent from the field in nine of their 12 games this season.
• Babson has won 11 of its last 12 over the past two seasons when winning the rebounding battle, and is 25-2 with the advantage on the glass since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
A LOOK AHEAD
• Babson plays its first NEWMAC road game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at preseason favorite and No. 24 WPI in Worcester, Mass.
