BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) scored 17 of his career-high 24 points in the second half to help Babson College defeat visiting Springfield College, 82-73, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.

Babson, which has won six of its last seven games, improves to 14-8 overall and 7-4 in conference play. Springfield drops to 6-16 overall and 3-8 in the NEWMAC with its fifth loss in the last five contests.

Kirkpatrick finished 9-of-16 from the floor and added five steals, while sophomore Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) posted his fourth double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three steals for the Beavers. First-year Mark Woolhouse (Lebanon, N.J.) added a career-high 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds in the victory.

Senior Panayiotis Kapanides (Bedford, Mass.) led four players in double figures with 21 points for the Pride. Graduate student Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) had 14 points and four assists, while first-year John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) and sophomore Andrew Rocci (Plymouth, Mass.) chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Green and White seized control of the game with an 18-0 run over a stretch of nearly seven minutes late in the first half. Amado followed a jumper by graduate Ryan Cibull (Alameda, Calif.) with five straight points to make it 29-18 at the 6:33 mark and Kirkpatrick buried a three-pointer two possessions later to stretch the margin to 14. Woolhouse tipped in a miss on the next trip and first-year Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) capped the run with a layup to give the Beavers their largest lead of the game at 40-18 with 2:56 to go before halftime.

Springfield, which missed 11-of-12 shots from the floor late in the period, got a three-pointer from Paulino and went 6-of-6 at the free throw line during an 11-3 spurt to pull back within 43-29 at the break. The hosts used back-to-back three-pointers by Cibull and Kirkpatrick to push the margin back to 18 just over three minutes into the second half and Woolhouse converted a three-point play to make it 52-34 with 14:29 remaining before the Pride started to chip away.

After getting as close as 11 on multiple occasions and 10 on two free throws by Costa with 10:15 to go, Kapanides canned a triple and then knocked down all three free throws after being fouled on another attempt from the left wing to get Springfield within 67-59 with 6:49 to play. Kirkpatrick answered with a trifecta on Babson's next possession but the visitors followed with a 7-1 spurt to get as close as 71-66 on a triple by Costa with 3:30 left.

The Pride would get no closer though as Kirkpatrick buried back-to-back jumpers and Woolhouse added a bucket inside to extend the hosts' advantage back to 11 with 1:36 to go.

The Green and White shot 44.1 percent from the floor and finished with a 47-27 edge on the glass. The Beavers also scored 22 points off of 18 Springfield turnovers. The Pride shot 40 percent from the floor and went 26-of-29 (89.7 percent) at the charity stripe in the loss.

Both teams return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as Babson travels to Clark while Springfield visits Emerson.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 29-42 all-time against Springfield and have won four straight and 15 of the last 20 meetings between the teams.
• The Green and White is 9-1 this season and 22-2 over the last two years when outrebounding its opponents.
• Babson is now 9-2 on the year when forcing 16 or more turnovers.
• The Beavers are 6-0 this winter and unbeaten in their last 17 outings when scoring at least 80 points.