Men's Basketball at Emerson
NEWMAC Tournament Semifinal
Thursday, February 23 | 7 p.m.
Brown-Plofker Gymnasium | Boston, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 30-5 all-time against Emerson in a series that dates back to the 1951-52 campaign.
• The Beavers have won 18 of the last 21 games in the series although two of the losses have come over the last calendar year.
• Eight of the last 10 games between the teams have been decided by single digits, which includes three games by four points or less and two others that finishing in OT.
• The teams split a pair of regular season contests this winter with each squad winning at home.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Thursday's matchup marks just the third time Babson and Emerson have met in the NEWMAC Tournament with the teams splitting their first two postseason meetings.
• The Lions rallied from a 16-point deficit to defeat the Beavers in overtime, 85-77, last February in Babson Park, and the Green and White edged Emerson 72-69 in a 2016 conference semifinal.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Aaron Gao scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and the Beavers built a 16-point first-half lead en route to a 60-56 win over Emerson on January 28 in Babson Park.
• Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick scored 13 points and graduate student Ryan Cibull added nine for Babson, which opened the game with a 16-4 run.
• Graduate student Nate Martin led three players in double figures with 16 points and classmate Jarred Houston added 13 points and three blocks for the Lions, who got as close as two with less than a minute remaining.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Third-seeded Babson (17-8) has won four straight games and nine of its last 10 and is coming off a 92-57 rout of MIT in Saturday's regular season finale.
• First-year Mark Woolhouse scored a career-high 18 points, Kirkpatrick added 15 points and sophomore Aidan Horan chipped in with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting for the Beavers, who shot a season-best 57.1 percent and finished with a 42-21 edge on the glass.
• Sophomore Nate Amado (17.1 pts, 6.8 reb) ranks fifth in the league in scoring and seventh in rebounding, Kirkpatrick (14.7 pts, 2.8 ast) has scored in double figures in 19 of the last 21 games and Cibull (10.6 pts, 3.2 ast) has a three-pointer in 10 straight games and is shooting 48.2 percent in conference play.
• The Green and White ranks second in NEWMAC play in scoring defense (60.8 points), points allowed per possession (0.87) and forced turnovers (15.6).

SCOUTING THE LIONS
• Second-seeded Emerson (16-9) has won four straight games and concluded the regular season with a 77-75 victory at Wheaton on Saturday.
• Martin poured in 26 points and hit the go-ahead jumper with five seconds left, while Houston finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks for the Lions, who scored on seven of their final nine possessions to erase a four-point deficit with under five minutes to go.
• Houston (19.4 pts, 12.8 reb, 4.1 blocks) leads the conference in rebounding and blocks to go along with a Division III-best 21 double-doubles, Martin (14.8 pts, 2.6 ast) has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 games and senior Max Davis (14.8 pts, 3.4 reb, 2.8 ast) is shooting a conference-best 47.3 percent from three-point range.
• Emerson ranks first in league play in scoring offense (78.8 points), points per possession (1.09) and field-goal percentage (47.1).

WOOLHOUSE CLAIMS FIRST WEEKLY HONOR
• After averaging 16.5 points on 73.7 percent shooting (14-of-19) in wins over Coast Guard and MIT, Woolhouse was chosen as the NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
• His 18-point performance in Saturday's win over MIT came on the heels of scoring a team-high 15 points in Wednesday's 87-58 rout of Coast Guard.
• Over the last five games, Woolhouse is averaging 11.8 points and 4.8 boards while shooting 67.6 percent from the floor.

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Amado averaged 14.0 points and shot 45.5 percent (10-of-22) in a pair of NCAA Tournament games last March, while Kirkpatrick put up 8.7 points and shot 50 percent from the floor (10-of-20) in three postseason games last season.

LION HUNTERS
• The trio of Cibull (15.0 points), Kirkpatrick (14.5) and Gao (13.5) have accounted for 43 points per game in Babson's two meetings with Emerson this season.
• Both Gao and Kirkpatrick scored in double figures in both matchups, while Cibull matched his career high with 21 points in the Beavers' 79-70 loss in Boston back on January 4.

DIFFERENT ON DEFENSE
• After allowing 1.03 points per possession and watching its 11 non-conference foes to shoot 36.4 percent from three-pointer range, Babson has clamped down on defense since the start of league play in January.
• The Beavers have held 12 of their last 13 opponents to 64 points or less and have limited NEWMAC foes to 32.6 percent from beyond the arc and just 7.3 offensive rebounds per game.
• Additionally, the Green and White is giving up just 0.86 points per possession in seven road games against conference foes this winter.

BATTLING FOR A BID
• With the exception of top-seeded and 20th-ranked WPI, which would be firmly on the bubble should they fail to win the conference tournament, the other four schools competing in this week's championship must hoist the NEWMAC trophy to reach the NCAA Tournament.
• WPI is ranked second in Region II, Emerson moved up to fourth and Babson entered the rankings for the first time on Tuesday at No. 6.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
• The Beavers, who have captured five conference championships (1992, 2002, 2004, 2015, 2016) under head coach Stephen Brennan, are making their 10th NEWMAC Tournament semifinal appearance in 11 seasons going back to 2012.
• The Green and White is seeking its first conference championship game appearance since 2017 when it lost to MIT before running off six consecutive victories en route to capturing the program's first Division III national title.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 11-1 this season and have won 24 of their last 26 games when outrebounding their opponents.
• Babson is 12-1 this winter when allowing 63 points or fewer.
• The Beavers are 10-3 on the road against NEWMAC foes over the last two seasons.
• The Green and White is 12-3 on the year when shooting 40 percent or better.
• Babson is 3-1 this season and 6-2 over the last two years in games decided by five points or less.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The winner of Thursday's semifinal will take on either top-seeded WPI or fifth-seeded Clark on Saturday.