WORCESTER, Mass.—Graduate student
Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and fourth-seeded Babson College built an 18-point lead on the way to defeating second-seeded Clark University, 73-64, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final on Saturday afternoon inside the Kneller Athletic Center.
With the win, Babson (15-13) claimed its second consecutive NEWMAC Tournament crown and is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. Clark (20-7), which was third in last week's NCAA Region II rankings, must wait to see if it earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the selections are announced on Monday.
Baxter, who was selected as the NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, went 8-of-10 at the free throw line and added three rebounds and three assists for the Beavers. Junior
Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds while becoming the 29th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points in the victory,
Junior Bruce Saintilus (Plainville, Mass.) scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with six rebounds to lead the Cougars. Junior Isaiah Taylor (Methuen, Mass.) added 11 points and three steals, while classmate Kekoa McArdle (Pittsfield, Mass.) finished with 10 points and nine boards in the loss.
Down 11-6 just over seven minutes into the contest, Baxter scored seven points during an 11-0 run to give the Green and White a 17-11 advantage on his layup at the 8:36 mark. The lead remained six just under four minutes later before three-pointers by junior
Aidan Horan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Baxter and back-to-back hoops by sophomore
Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) keyed a 10-2 spurt that stretched the Beavers' advantage to 33-19 with 1:33 to go in opening half.
Clark, which made just two field goals during a stretch of 10-plus minutes, got a layup from senior Mikey O'Brien (New York, N.Y.) and three straight points from Saintilus to get back within 33-24 at the break. The momentum was short-lived however as junior
David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J) buried a three-pointer from the left wing and Amado followed with six straight points to give Babson its largest lead of the game at 42-24 with 17:27 to play.
Amado stopped a 9-2 run by the Cougars with a three-point play that helped him surpass 1,000 points and then knocked down two free throws to make it 49-33 with 13:22 left. Trifectas by Saintilus and junior Ian Calabrese (Simsbury, Conn.) cut the Clark deficit to 10 with 10:41 remaining but Babson once again answered back getting two free throws from Baxter and hoops by first-year
NeJohn Fortes (New Bedford, Mass.) and Amado to regain a 55-41 advantage with 7:39 to play.
The hosts made one final push, getting a three-point play from Saintilus and a layup from sophomore Reid Neumann (Burbank, Calif.) following a steal to trim Babson's lead to 65-59 with 55.8 seconds remaining. They would get no closer though, as Baxter canned four straight free throws and the Green and White went 8-of-10 at the charity stripe over the final 51 seconds to finish off the win.
The Beavers shot 42.6 percent from the field and outscored Clark 21-7 at the free throw line. The Cougars shot 40.6 percent and finished with a slim 41-38 edge on the glass.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 42-40 all-time against Clark and have won 18 of the last 20 games between the teams.
• Baxter averaged 28.3 points in three NEWMAC Tournament wins.
• Babson is the first team to repeat as NEWMAC championships since MIT in 2017 and 2018, and head coach
Stephen Brennan claimed the sixth conference title of his career with Saturday's victory.
• The Beavers are now 13-3 this season when shooting at least 40 percent.
