BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior John Adams (Douglas, Mass.) led all players with 23 points and 11 rebounds as visiting WPI held off Babson College's late rally for a 61-55 win in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson, which has dropped two straight games, slips to 8-11 overall and 4-6 in conference play. WPI collected its fifth consecutive victory to improve to 16-3 overall and 9-1 in the NEWMAC. 

Graduate student Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Beavers. Junior Aidan Horan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) added 10 points and four boards, sophomore Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) scored eight points and classmate Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) tied for game-high honors with 11 rebounds in the loss. 

Junior Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) went 9-of-10 at the free throw line on the way to scoring 13 points and senior Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, Calif.) added 11 points and three steals to lead the Engineers. 

Adams scored 10 points and senior Andrew Lufkin (Auburn, Mass.) added five as WPI made seven of its first 10 shots to go in front 17-6 just over eight minutes into the contest. Sophomore Mark Woolhouse (Lebanon, N.J.) cut the margin to nine with a bucket inside but first-year Jack Bleier (Victor, N.Y.) knocked down three free throws and Sevilla followed with a three-pointer from the top of the key to stretch the Engineers' lead to 23-8 with 9:19 to go until halftime. 

The Green and White used a three-point play by Baxter and a triple by sophomore Jeremiah Paul (Los Angeles, Calif.) to pull within 11 but the visitors rattled off a 13-2 run to extend the margin to 38-16 less with 1:23 to go before the break. The Beavers got within 38-21 at halftime and then held WPI to just eight points over the first 13 minutes of the second half to claw their way back into the game. 

Horan and sophomore Jojo Chalumeau (Hyde Park, Mass.) canned three-pointers as Babson went on a 13-5 run to pull within 46-36 on a jumper by Paul with 11:45 to go in the contest. Baxter ended a scoreless stretch of nearly four minutes with four straight points to cut the deficit to six only to see WPI knock down three free throws before getting a hoop from Sevilla to push its lead back to 51-43 with 6:07 remaining. 

Horan and first-year NeJohn Fortes (New Bedford, Mass.) scored on consecutive possessions halve the deficit and Lauder followed with a layup to get the Beavers within 53-50 with 3:07 to go. They were unable to get any closer though as Adams went 2-of-2 at the charity strip on the ensuing possession and Callahan knocked down a baseline jumper with 1:08 left as the Engineers regained a 57-50 edge. 

The Beavers, who shot just 27.7 percent, finished with a 47-37 edge on the glass and scored 18 second-chance points. WPI shot 40.4 percent on the night and went 21-of-34 (61.8 percent) at the free throw line. 

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson travels to Clark at 4 p.m. while WPI hosts Coast Guard at 2 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 51-40 all-time against WPI. 
•    Wednesday's loss is just the third for Babson over the last 22 games when outrebounding its opponents. 
•    The Beavers are now 6-3 on the year at home. 
•    O'Toole returned to the lineup for the first time since December 29 after missing the last eight games due to injury.