BOSTON—Sophomore Brendan McNamara (Arlington, Mass.) scored a game-high 18 points and Emerson College erased a 14-point second-half lead to edge visiting Babson College, 79-75, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action at Brown and Plofker Gymnasium. 

Babson slips to 8-10 overall and 4-5 in conference play with the loss while Emerson, which has won three straight games, improves to 8-10 overall and is also 4-5 in the NEWMAC. 

Graduate student Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Beavers. Junior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half, while junior Parker Mason (Portsmouth, R.I.) and sophomore Mark Woolhouse (Lebanon, N.J.) added 11 and 10 points, respectively, in the loss. 

Sophomore Asher Gardiner (Christchurch, New Zealand) scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting and junior Trevor Arico (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and first-year Shay Roban (Long Island, N.Y.) both chipped in with 11 points for the Lions. 
    
The Green and White took a 44-41 edge into the locker room following a first half that featured three ties and six lead changes. Junior David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) gave the Beavers' their largest lead of the stanza at 17-10 with a three-pointer a the 13:09 mark and Mason helped the visitors regain a 32-27 advantage with five straight points before Emerson responded with an 11-2 burst to take its biggest lead at 38-34 with 2:49 to go until the break. 

The Lions grabbed a 45-44 edge on a layup by Gardiner just over a minute into the second half before Babson created separation with a 22-7 run. Mason and sophomore JoJo Chalumeau (Hyde Park, Mass.) both knocked down a pair of triples, Woolhouse contributed four points and Horan buried another three-pointer to put the visitors up 66-52 with 12:46 to play. 

The Green and White was still up 70-56 with just over 10 minutes remaining before McNamara and Jacob Armant () both scored four points during a 12-0 run that brought Emerson to within 70-68 with 5:49 to go. First-year NeJohn Fortes (New Bedford, Mass.) ended a drought of nearly five minutes for the Beavers, but the hosts answered with eight straight points to match their largest lead of the game at 76-72 after a free throw by Gardiner with 59 seconds to play. 

Baxter knocked down three free throws to get Babson within one with 49 seconds remaining before McNamara answered by going 2-of-2 at the charity stripe to make it 78-75 with 32 seconds left. The Green and White missed a pair of shots in the paint on the ensuing possession and Arico put the game away by going 1-of-2 at the line with 0:07 to go. 

The Beavers shot 45.3 percent and made 10 three-pointers in addition to scoring 15 points off of nine Emerson turnovers. The Lions shot a season-best 55.7 percent from the floor and finished with a 32-28 edge on the glass. 

Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson hosts WPI at 7 p.m. while Emerson travels to Coast Guard at 5:30 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 32-6 all-time against Emerson although the teams have now split the regular season series in back-to-back seasons.
•    Ten of the last 13 games between Babson and the Lions have been decided by single digits, which includes five games by five points or less. 
•    Prior to Saturday, the Beavers had won seven of their first eight games on the year when scoring at least 75 points. 
•    Babson is now just 1-4 in games decided by five points or less this winter.