Beavers Build 16-Point First-Half Lead, Extend Winning Streak to Four

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) scored 16 points and Babson College built a 16-point first-half lead on the way to defeating visiting Emerson College, 60-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.

With its fourth straight win, Babson improves to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in conference play. Emerson, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, drops to 11-8 overall and 6-2 in the NEWMAC.

Gao went 6-of-10 from the floor and knocked down a career-high three points to go along with three assists and two steals for the Beavers. Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) added 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and graduate student Ryan Cibull (Alameda, Calif.) scored nine in the win. First-year Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) led all players with 10 rebounds and classmate Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) dished out a game-high four assists.

Graduate student Nate Martin (Washington, D.C.) led three players in double figures with 16 points, while classmate Jarred Houston (Norwood, Mass.) finished with 13 points and three blocked shots to pace the Lions. First-year Brendan McNamara (Arlington, Mass.) went 6-of-8 from the floor and chipped in with 12 points in the loss.

Cibull, Gao, sophomore Aidan Horan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and classmate David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) all knocked down three-pointers to help the Green and White race out to a 16-4 lead just over six minutes into the contest. Gao buried another triple to make it 19-6, Amado converted a three-point play to cap a stretch that saw the Beavers score on three straight possessions extend the margin to 15 at the 7:06 mark, and Gao canned his third trifecta of the stanza to give the hosts their largest lead of the afternoon at 31-15 with 6:08 to go until halftime.

Houston, was picked up two early fouls, scored seven points over the final 4:51 of the period as Emerson used an 11-2 spurt to pull back within 33-26 at the break, and got within four on a layup by senior Max Davis (Oakland, Calif.) less than a minute into the second half. Amado answered with four straight points and Kirkpatrick followed with a pull-up jumper and a three-pointer to push Babson's advantage back to 44-34 with 15:19 to play.

The Beavers led by 12 when O'Toole buried a triple from the left wing midway through the half and got a three-pointer from Gao to make it 58-47 with 6:23 remaining before the Lions got seven points from Martin during an 9-0 run to get as close as 58-56 on a three-point play with 38 seconds to go.

Both squads missed the front end of a 1-and-1 over the next two possessions and Cibull snapped Babson's scoring drought of over six minutes with a pair of free throws that put the game away with 10.3 seconds to play.

The Beavers shot just 39.7 percent but knocked down nine three-pointers and finished with a 36-31 edge on the glass. Emerson shot 44.4 percent but went 1-of-9 (11.1 percent) from long distance in the loss.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as Babson travels to Wheaton while Emerson takes on first-place WPI.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 30-5 all-time against Emerson and Saturday's victory snapped their two-game losing streak in the series.
• Saturday's contest marked just the second time over the last 16 meetings between the teams that the winning side scored less than 78 points.
• Babson is 10-2 this season when holding its foes below 65 points and has not given up more than 64 points in seven consecutive games.
• The Beavers are 2-0 this season and have won five of their last six games decided by five points or less going back to last season.