Men's Basketball at WPI
NEWMAC Tournament Semifinal
Thursday, February 22 | 7 p.m. 
Harrington Auditorium | Worcester, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 51-40 all-time against WPI in a series that dates back to the 1974-75 campaign. 
•    The Beavers have dropped seven of their last eight games to the Engineers going back to February 2020.
•    The Green and White has been victorious in just two of its last six visits to Harrington Auditorium although one of the victories came in last year's NEWMAC final. 

POSTSEASON HISTORY
•    Babson is 5-5 all-time against WPI in the conference playoffs and the teams will meet for the fourth time in the postseason since 2019 on Thursday night.
•    The Beavers posted a 59-53 win in last year's NEWMAC final for its first postseason win over the Engineers since 2003.
•    Four of the last five conference tournament matchups between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer.
•    Three of the four conference semifinal games between the teams have come down to the final possession with WPI edging Babson 66-64 in 2013, 60-59 in 2008 and 69-68 back in 1991. 

LAST MEETING
•    John Adams finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds and WPI built a 22-point first-half lead to defeat the Beavers, 61-55, on January 24 in Babson Park. 
•    Aidan Callahan scored 13 points and Donovan Sevilla added 11 points and three steals for the Engineers, who shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half and attempted 24 second-half free throws.
•    Graduate student Steph Baxter scored 15 points to go along with three assists and two steals and junior Aidan Horan chipped in with 10 points for the Beavers, who got as close as three with just over three minutes to play despite shooting 27.7 percent for the game. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Fourth-seeded Babson (13-13) has now won five of its last seven games after defeating fifth-seeded Coast Guard, 87-76, in a NEWMAC quarterfinal on Tuesday night. 
•    Baxter scored 23 points, junior Nate Amado returned to the lineup with 22 points and six rebounds and classmate David Cross scored a career-high 18 points to go along with five boards and three assists for the Beavers, who led by as many as 21 while shooting 58.6 percent in the first half. 
•    Amado (20.3 pts, 6.7 reb), who saw his first action since January 20, ranks first in scoring, sixth in rebounding and is fifth in the conference shooting 45.9 percent, Baxter (18.4 pts, 3.7 reb, 3.0 ast) is second in the NEWMAC in scoring and seventh in assists and sophomore Timmy O'Toole (7.9 pts, 8.8 reb) ranks third in the conference in rebounding. 
•    The Green and White ranks first in conference play in offensive rebounds per game (12.8) and is second in both scoring defense (65.6 points) and three-point defense holding its foes to just 29.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc. 

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
•    Top-seeded WPI (21-4) has won three straight games and claimed its third consecutive NEWMAC regular season title with a 79-46 win at Wheaton last Saturday. 
•    Adams scored 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting and Callahan added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Engineers, who shot 53.3 percent and got at least six points from eight different players. 
•    Adams (14.4 pts, 11.3 reb) is averaging 19.3 points on 65.2 percent shooting over the last seven games and ranks first in the conference with 14 double-doubles, Sevilla (13.1 pts, 2.6 reb) has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 15 games and Callahan (10.8 pts, 3.6 ast, 3.4 reb, 1.8 stl) ranks third in the NEWMAC in both assists and steals. 
•    WPI, which his 9-2 at home this winter, ranks sixth in Division III in scoring defense allowing just 58.2 points, 23rd in field goal percentage defense (38.8) and is committing a league-low 10.6 turnovers per game. 

HEAT CHECK
•    The Beavers matched their season high with 13 three-pointers in Tuesday's win over Coast Guard and knocked down 10 triples in the first half when they scored 48 points.
•    The 48 points represented the most in the first half of a game since February 2, 2022, when Babson scored 50 at Wheaton, and are the second highest total in any half this year behind the 49 it scored in the second half of a 93-73 victory over Emerson on December 6.  
•    The 87 points scored by the Beavers on Tuesday night are their most in a NEWMAC Tournament game since a 98-68 semifinal victory over Springfield back in 2003.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
•    The Beavers, who have captured five conference championships (2002, 2004, 2015, 2016, 2023) under head coach Stephen Brennan, will need to win three games in five days to secure a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. 
•    The Green and White is 13-9 all-time in the semifinal round, which includes a 5-7 mark in road and neutral court games.

HOMETOWN GLORY
•    Baxter, who is a Worcester native, picked up the first postseason win of his career on Tuesday after going 0-2 in the NESCAC quarterfinals during his four-year career at Bates. 
•    In road games against WPI and Clark this season he is averaging 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent (4-of-8) from distance. 

TOURNAMENT TESTED
•    Amado is averaging 18.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor and 40 percent from behind the arc in six career NEWMAC and NCAA Tournament games, including Tuesday's win over Coast Guard.
•    O'Toole (3.0 pts, 7.3 reb, 1.3 blocks) and sophomore Tyler Lauder (5.0 pts, 5.7 reb) both started each of Babson's three postseason games last winter.

BEAVER BITES
•    Baxter has scored 15 or more points in 19 of the last 21 games.
•    Since returning from injury against WPI on January 24, O'Toole is averaging 4.6 offensive boards and 10.5 rebounds per game in eight starts.
•    Cross has contributed 10.8 points on 54.5 percent shooting from three-point range to go along with 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists over his last five outings. 
•    Sophomore Mark Woolhouse has connected on at least one three-pointer in five straight contests. 
•    Baxter averaged 15.5 points and 4.0 assists, while Horan put up 10.5 points on 44.4 percent shooting in two regular season games against WPI.

POINTS AT A PREMIUM
•    Since defeating WPI 93-81 on January 11, 2020, the Beavers are averaging just 55.7 points and have scored more than 60 points just once in nine games against WPI. 
•    Despite its offensive struggles, Babson has allowed just 58.2 points to WPI in five games between the teams over the last two seasons.

TOUGH ON D
•    Over the last seven games of the regular season, Babson is allowing just 59.3 points per game and 0.87 points per possession. 
•    The Beavers have held their last seven foes to just 25.9 percent shooting from three-point range and are allowing less than 10 offensive rebounds per outing. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 11-3 this season when shooting better than 40 percent from the field. 
•    Babson is 10-4 this winter when outrebounding its opponents. 
•    The Green and White is 13-6 when scoring at least 60 points this year.
•    The Beavers have won nine consecutive games and are 18-1 over the last two seasons when allowing 60 points or less. 
•    Babson is 9-4 this winter when at least three players score in double figures.

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Thursday's semifinal clash will face either second-seeded Clark or sixth-seeded Emerson in Saturday's NEWMAC Tournament final.