BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) scored a game-high 18 points but 14th-ranked WPI used a 17-1 second-half run to pull away for a 61-49 win over Babson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.

Babson has dropped two of its last three games to slip to 8-6 overall and 1-2 in league play, while WPI improves to 11-2 overall and 3-0 in the NEWMAC.

Junior John Gorgol (Scottsdale, Ariz.) scored a season-high 12 points while grabbing six rebounds and senior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) added 11 points, two assists and two steals to lead the Beavers.

Sophomore Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) produced 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals to pace the Engineers. Sophomore Brett Marelli (Hampton, N.H.) came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and junior Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, Calif.) chipped in with 11 points in the win.

WPI scored the first seven points of the game before the Green and White responded with a 7-2 spurt to get within two on a triple by Gorgol less than three minutes into the contest. The Engineers took their first double-digit lead of the night at 25-15 on a layup by Marelli with 6:39 to go in the period and were up 30-23 at the break after junior John Adams (Douglas, Mass.) answered back-to-back jumpers by Kirkpatrick and Gao with a bucket in the paint.

Babson got as close as three thanks to consecutive hoops by Kirkpatrick and first-year Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) to begin the second half, and was down only four after Gao canned a jumper to make it 33-29 with 17:22 remaining. Unfortunately, the hosts went over nine minutes without a field goal while Callahan, Marelli and first-year JR Newman (Havertown, Pa.) combined to score 15 points during a 17-1 run that extended WPI's advantage to 50-30 at the 8:52 mark.

Newman buried a three-pointer with 5:32 left to make it 57-37 before the Beavers closed with a 12-4 run. Gorgol knocked down consecutive triples to cut the deficit to 57-43 and Kirkpatrick hit a pull-up jumper to close the gap to 12 with 2:10 remaining.

The Green and White shot 40 percent from the floor but finished just 4-of-21 from beyond the arc. The Engineers shot 45.8 percent and outscored the Beavers 26-12 in the paint and 12-1 at the free throw line.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Wheaton at 1 p.m., while WPI takes on Emerson at 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 50-37 all-time against WPI but have dropped five straight games in the series.
• Wednesday's loss is the first at home this season for Babson, which entered the night 3-0 inside Staake Gymnasium.
• For just the third time in 45 games going back to the start of the 2018-19 campaign, the Beavers lost when allowing fewer than 70 points.
• After attempting 47 free throws in its first two NEWMAC games, Babson attempted just two on Wednesday night, which is its fewest in a game in over a decade.