Men's Basketball vs. Emerson
Wednesday, December 6 | 7 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 31-5 all-time against Emerson in s series that dates back to the 1951-52 campaign.
•    The Beavers have won 19 of their last 22 games between the teams although the Lions own a victory in each of the last two seasons. 
•    Nine of the last 11 contests have been decided by single digits, which includes four games by five points or less and two others in OT. 

LAST MEETING
•    Andrew Kirkpatrick '23 scored a career-high 27 points to help third-seeded Babson defeat second-seeded Emerson, 69-64, in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on February 23, 2023, in Boston. 
•    Kirkpatrick added five rebounds, four assists and two blocks, while junior Nate Amado added 17 points and three blocks for the Beavers, who led by as many as 17 with under 12 minutes to go in the second half. 
•    Jarred Houston finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds and Nate Martin had 19 points and three assists to lead the Lions, who got as close as six with just over two minutes remaining.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (4-3, 0-0 NEWMAC) had its three-game winning streak halted last Wednesday when it suffered a 73-64 loss to Saint Joseph (Conn.).
•    Amado scored a game-high 23 points and graduate student Steph Baxter added 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with four steals for the Beavers, who fell behind after shooting just 24.2 percent in the first half. 
•    Amado (22.6 pts, 6.3 reb, 2.7 ast) has scored at least 15 points in 10 consecutive games going back to last February, Baxter (20.6 pts, 3.7 reb, 3.7 ast) is shooting 50 percent from the floor and sophomore Timmy O'Toole (7.0 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.3 stl) leads the team in both rebounding and steals. 
•    The Green and White is averaging 77.1 points on 43.2 percent shooting and committed just 11.0 turnovers over its first seven games. 

SCOUTING THE LIONS
•    Emerson (2-5, 0-0 NEWMAC) has dropped three straight games and is coming off a 63-55 loss at Worcester State last Saturday. 
•    Brendan McNamara scored 12 points and Trevor Arico added 10 points for the Lions, who shot a season-worst 29.9 percent and trailed by as many as 16 early in the second half. 
•    Arico (16.7 pts, 2.3 reb) has scored in double figures six times and is averaging nearly six free throw attempts per outing, McNamara (15.6 pts, 2.7 reb, 2.7 ast) is shooting 44 percent from three-point range and Guillermo Gasset Ruiz (9.7 pts, 7.7 reb, 4.0 ast) has missed two of the last three games. 
•    Emerson is averaging 70.3 points and has attempted at least 18 free throws in six of its first seven contests. 

POLL POSITION
•    Coming off its first NEWMAC Tournament championship since 2016 last winter, Babson garnered three first-place votes and finished second when the league announced its preseason coaches' poll back in October. 
•    The Beavers came in behind only WPI, which has claimed two straight NEWMAC regular season titles, while Emerson was picked to finish fourth.

NEW-LOOK NEWMAC
•    After playing 14 league games over the last decade, the NEWMAC has expanded to nine teams with the addition of Salve Regina and will feature a 16-game schedule beginning this winter. 
•    With the addition of the Seahawks, who were previously part of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), the conference tournament will also expand from five to six teams. 

CONFERENCE SUCCESS
•    Since finishing fifth back in 2013, the Beavers boast an .800 winning percentage (100-25) in the regular season against league foes in nine seasons going back to 2014. 
•    Babson owns three regular season titles (2015, 2016, 2017) in addition to finishing second three times and third on three occasions during this stretch, and has won at least 10 games eight times. 

DYNAMIC DUO
•    Amado (24th) and Baxter (48th) both rank among the top 50 in Division III in scoring and enter the week as the country's third-ranked scoring duo. 
•    They have combined to average 43.2 points per game, which is behind only Kai Te Huki (25.2) and Gabe Garcia (21.4) of Grinnell and Derian Bradford (24.0) and Aytor Alberto (20.7) of Cairn.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers have 14 of their last 15 NEWMAC opponents under 65 points going back to last January. 
•    Babson is 4-1 this season when shooting 40 percent or better from the floor. 
•    The Green and White is 4-0 this season and has won 29 of its last 31 games since 2021-22 when outrebounding its foes. 
•    The Beavers have won five straight home games against NEWMAC opponents and are 10-3 overall at home since the start of last year.

UP NEXT
•    Babson travels to Oshkosh, Wis., for games against Wisconsin-Stout on December 29 and No. 24 Wisconsin-Oshkosh on December 29-30.