WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—Graduate student Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and 13th-ranked University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) closed the game with a 25-4 run to defeat visiting Babson College, 77-56, in non-conference men's basketball action on Monday night inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium.

Babson, which suffered its first loss of the year, drops to 2-1, while Saint Joseph improves to 2-0 on the year.

Sophomore Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) recorded his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Classmate Parker Mason (Portsmouth, R.I.) knocked down four three-pointers on the way to finishing with 12 points and four boards, while graduate student Ryan Cibull (Alameda, Calif.) and senior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) added seven points apiece.

Senior Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) produced 13 points, six assists and three steals, while classmate Jalen Samuels (Franklin, Mass.) scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting for the Blue Jays. Senior Delshawn Jackson Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) came off the bench to score 10 points and graduate student Alec Kinder (West Haven, Conn.) led all players with 11 rebounds in the win.

The Green and White erased an early seven-point deficit with a 10-2 run to take its first lead of the night at 13-12 on a three-pointer by Mason with 10:31 to go in the opening half. The lead changed hands six times over the next four minutes before Gao scored on back-to-back possessions to spark a 7-0 spurt that extended the Beavers' advantage to 25-19 with 5:15 to go before halftime.

Kinder capped an 11-4 run with a putback to put Saint Joseph back in front 30-29 at the 1:39 mark and Martin answered another triple by Mason with a jumper to send the teams to the locker rooms deadlocked at 32.

Amado scored eight points to begin the second half and Parker canned a three-pointer from the left corner to help Babson match its largest lead of the night at 43-37 with 17:39 to play. Samuels and O'Neill provided all the scoring during an 11-0 burst that put the Blue Jays ahead 48-43 at the 15:14 mark but hoops by Cibull and senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) along with Mason's fourth triple of the night helped the Beavers forge a 52-52 tie with 12:11 to play.

Jackson Jr. scored seven points during a 9-1 run that saw the hosts build a 61-53 with just under nine minutes remaining, O'Neill converted a three-point play to surpass the 1,000-point mark and senior Jake Sullivan (Branford, Conn.) scored after grabbing an offensive rebound to stretch the margin to double-digits for the first time with 7:03 left in the contest. Babson, which missed its final 13 shots, was held to just four points over the final 12 minutes.

The Beavers shot just 32.2 percent for the game and committed a season-high 19 turnovers. Saint Joseph shot 52.6 percent from the floor and outscored the Green and White 40-14 in the paint.

Babson returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Tufts at 3 p.m. as part of the New England Big 4 Challenge, while Saint Joseph travels to Aberdeen, S.D., to face No. 3 Wisconsin-Oshkosh as part of the Small College Basketball Champions Classic on Friday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 0-4 all-time against Saint Joseph.
• Monday's loss marked just the third time in 27 games going back to the 2019-20 campaign that Babson has lost when making at least 10 three-pointers.
• The Beavers have dropped their last eight games when scoring fewer than 60 points going back the start of the 2018-19 season.