ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Graduate student Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) scored a game-high 25 points to help Babson College defeat Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 78-71, in the consolation game of the 39th Annual Lopata Classic on Saturday inside the WashU Field House. 

Babson, which snapped a two-game skid, improves to 2-2 on the year with the win. Wisconsin-Eau Claire has dropped back-to-back games to slip to 1-3 overall. 

Baxter was 10-of-19 shooting to go along with five assists, four rebounds and three steals, while junior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) finished with 15 points, eight boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) added 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting and classmate Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds in the win. 

Senior Carter Huschka (Farmington, Minn.) led four players in double figures with 18 points and classmate Cade Hall (Mauston, Wis.) contributed 12 points for the Blugolds. Fellow senior Michael Casper (Merrill, Wis.) and sophomore Carter Lichtsinn (Olathe, Kan.) both scored 11 points and junior Drew Maloney (St. Charles, Minn.) chipped in with eight rebounds and three assists in the loss. 

The Green and White trailed by six just over nine minutes into the contest but used a 19-7 spurt that included 11 combined points from Lauder and Baxter to build a 27-21 advantage on a three-pointer by senior John Gorgol (Scottdale, Ariz.) with 6:15 left in the opening half. Lichtsinn followed with a triple on Wisconsin Eau-Claire's next possession before Babson got five points apiece form Baxter and O'Toole while closing the stanza on a 15-6 run to take a 42-30 lead into the break. 

Baxter and Amado hit consecutive jumpers early in the second half to keep the lead at 10, but the Blugolds chipped away and cut their deficit to 56-54 thanks to a three-point play by Huschka with 10:09 to play before tying the game at 63 on another hoop by Huschka at the 5:29 mark. O'Toole grabbed an offensive rebound and converted the putback on the ensuing possession and sophomore Jojo Chalumeau (Boston, Mass.) followed with a transition layup to help Babson regain a 67-63 lead with 4:27 to go. 

Baxter scored on two of the next three possessions to keep the Green and White in front 71-64 with just over three minutes to play and then buried back-to-back jumpers after Wisconsin-Eau Claire closed within two to extend the margin back to 75-69 with 1:21 left. Amado then went 3-of-4 at the charity stripe over the final 27 seconds to seal the win. 

The Beavers shot 51.7 percent from the floor and finished with a slim 29-27 edge on the glass in addition to scoring 19 points off of 15 turnovers by the Blugolds. Wisconsin-Eau Claire shot 50 percent for the game and outscored the Green and White 40-38 in the paint. 

Babson returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Brandeis at 1 p.m., while the Blugolds visit the Milwaukee School of Engineering next Saturday at 1 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    Saturday's contest was the first all-time between the Beavers and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. 
•    Baxter averaged 33.5 points in two games in St. Louis, while Amado has now scored at least 15 points in seven consecutive games going back to last season. 
•    Babson is 27-2 since the start of the 2021-22 campaign when outrebounding its opponents. 
•    Each of the Beavers' last three games have been decided by seven points or less.