Beavers Open Game with 19-3 Run, Hold Mammoths to Lowest Field Goal Percentage since 2016 in Win

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) and senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) combined for 38 points to help Babson College defeat visiting Amherst College, 66-54, in non-conference men's basketball action on Wednesday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.

With its second consecutive win, Babson improves to 4-2 on the year, while Amherst drops to 2-2.

Amado scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Kirkpatrick scored 18 points and added five boards and three assists for the Beavers. Senior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) and junior John Gorgol (Scottsdale, Ariz.) both contributed nine points in the victory.

First-year Charlie Randall (Larchmont, N.Y.) finished with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while classmate Giovanni Tam (Milan, Italy) came off the bench to score 10 points for the Mammoths.

The Green and White got nine points from Kirkpatrick as part of an 11-0 run over the first four-plus minutes. Amado followed up a three-pointer by sophomore Bobby Sommers (Southborough, Mass.) with a transition layup and sophomore David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) and Gorgol drilled back-to-back triples to stretch Babson's lead to 19-3 at the 12:10 mark.

Amherst, which missed 10 of its first 11 shots got eight points from Tam to cut its deficit to 26-16 with 4:34 to go before the break, but the Beavers responded with a three-pointer by Gao and a pair of pull-up jumpers from Kirkpatrick to stretch the margin back to 35-21 going into the locker room.

A three-point play by Amado gave Babson a 40-25 lead just under three minutes into the second half before the Mammoths went on a 12-1 run to get as close as 41-37 on a layup by sophomore CJ Mitchell (Windsor, Conn.) with 11:32 remaining. Hoops by Gao and sophomore Parker Mason (Portsmouth, R.I.) extended the margin back to seven and Gorgol was fouled on a backdoor layup and converted the old-fashioned three-point play to make it 50-39 at the 8:01 mark.

Amado and Kirkpatrick canned back-to-back three-pointers as the Beavers regained a 57-42 cushion with 5:17 left and Amherst was unable to get closer than nine the rest of the way.

The Beavers limited the Mammoths to their lowest shooting percentage since 2016 (26.7 percent) and finished with a 51-43 edge on the glass. Amherst entered the contest ranked third in Division III with a +16.3 rebounding margin.

Both teams return to action on Sunday as Babson travels to Bowdoin at 1 p.m., while Amherst visits Yeshiva at 3 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 18-24 all-time against Amherst and have won five straight games between the teams going back to 2017.
• Babson has held the Mammoths below 30 percent shooting in back-to-back meetings.
• Amado has now scored 20 or more points in six consecutive games to begin the season.
• The Beavers are 3-0 this season and 36-2 dating back to the start of the 2019-20 campaign when outrebounding their opponents.