Box Score BABSON PARK, Mass.—The senior duo of Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) and Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) combined for 47 points to help visiting Wheaton College defeat Babson College, 64-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson, which has dropped three of its last four games, dips to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play, while Wheaton improves to 8-6 overall and 3-1 in the NEWMAC.
Junior John Gorgol (Scottsdale, Ariz.) led four players in double figures with 12 points and six rebounds, senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) scored 11 points and junior Stephen Watson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and first-year Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) both finished with 10 points. Sophomore Aidan Horan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) led the Beavers with nine rebounds and four steals to go along with seven points, while senior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) dished out a game-high four assists in the loss.
Williams went 8-of-13 from the floor and 11-of-16 at the free throw line on the way to posting his seventh double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Carlisle scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added five boards and two assists for the Lyons.
Wheaton made 10 of its first 14 shots to build a 26-18 lead on a three-pointer by sophomore Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) with 5:56 to go in the opening half. The Green and White responded with an 11-3 burst that included three-pointers by Horan and Gao and back-to-back jumpers by Gorgol and O'Toole to take a 32-31 lead into the locker room.
The Lyons answered back as Carlisle and Williams combined for all the scoring during as 12-0 run to regain a 43-32 edge with 15:21 to go in the contest. The Beavers pulled within 45-41 three minutes later after five straight points by Watson but Carlisle sandwiched a pair of driving layups around two more free throws by Williams to extend the margin back to 53-43 at the 9:22 mark.
Gorgol canned two free throws to bring Babson within 55-48 with 8:15 left but Williams converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Evan Cook (Dunstable, Mass.) buried a triple from the right corner on back-to-back possessions to give Wheaton its largest lead of the game at 61-48 with 3:49 remaining.
The Beavers shot a season-low 31.3 percent and were outscored 36-10 in the paint on the day. The Lyons turned the ball over 19 times but shot 52.5 percent from the floor and finished with a 37-31 edge on the glass.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson travels to MIT at 8 p.m. while Wheaton heads to Emerson for a 5 p.m. tipoff.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 40-15 all-time against Wheaton and Saturday's loss was just their third in the last 24 meetings between the programs.
• Babson hauled down 15 offensive rebounds on Saturday and has now finished with at least 11 in 13 of 15 games this season.
• The Beavers are now 6-2 on the year when holding their opponents below 70 points.