Men's Basketball at No. 9 Oswego State
NCAA Tournament First Round
Friday, March 1 | 6 p.m. 
Max Ziel Gymnasium | Oswego, N.Y.

SCHEDULE
First Round | Friday, March 1 
No. 18 DeSales vs. No. 21 Williams, 3:30 p.m.
Babson at No. 9 Oswego State, 6 p.m. 

Second Round | Saturday, March 2
First Round winners, 7 p.m. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 0-1 all-time against Oswego State.
•    The Beavers suffered an 89-64 loss in the consolation game of the Eastern Connecticut State Tournament on November 24, 1985, in the only previous meeting between the programs. 

BABSON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT 
•    The Beavers are making their eighth appearance since 2014 and are back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive season (excluding 2020-21) and 13th time overall in program history.
•    Babson claimed the school's first Division III national championship with a 79-78 win over Augustana (Ill.) in 2017 after advancing to the national semifinals in 2015.
•    The Green and White also reached the Sweet 16 in 2002 and 2016 and lost to eventual national champions Randolph-Macon in the second round of the 2022 tournament.
•    The Beavers are 5-5 in NCAA first round games and were defeated by Utica, 72-60, last season in Glassboro, N.J.

OSWEGO STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
•    The Lakers are making their ninth appearance, all of which have come since 2011. 
•    Oswego State advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history last season after reaching the Sweet 16 in 2016, 2019 and 2022. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (15-13) has won three straight games and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 73-64 victory at Clark in the NEWMAC Tournament final last Saturday. 
•    Graduate student Steph Baxter scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half and junior Nate Amado added 22 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Beavers, who built an 18-point lead and held off several rallies by the Cougars to capture their second consecutive conference title. 
•    Amado (20.1 pts, 6.9 reb) is shooting 45.2 percent from the floor, Baxter (19.4 pts, 3.7 reb, 3.0 ast) has scored in double figures in each of his last 12 games and sophomore Timmy O'Toole (7.9 pts, 8.7 reb) is tied for the team lead with four double-doubles on the year.
•    The Green and White ranks 35th in Division III in adjusted defense allowing just 91.4 points per 100 possessions. 

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
•    No. 9 Oswego State (25-2) is coming off an 85-80 loss to SUNY New Paltz in last Saturday's SUNYAC final, which snapped its 18-game winning streak. 
•    Jeremiah Sparks led four players in double figures with 22 points, Julien Crittendon added 15 points and Ahkee Anderson finished with 14 for the Lakers, who scored 26 second-chance points and led by as many as 14 early in the second half.
•    Sparks (19.0 pts, 6.1 reb, 3.3 ast) has scored 20 or more points 11 times this winter, Anderson (14.5 pts, 4.2 reb, 2.6 ast) is shooting 56.2 percent from three-point range and Cartier Bowman (9.3 pts, 8.7 reb) has posted seven double-doubles and is shooting 61 percent from the field on the year. 
•    Oswego State is 11th in Division III in adjusted offense averaging 115.4 points per 100 possessions and ranks 14th nationally in rebounding margin (+8.1). 

BAXTER, AMADO EARN NEWMAC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
•    One of the nation's most prolific scoring tandems this season, Baxter was named to the All-NEWMAC first team and Amado garnered all-league second-team accolades when the conference announced its postseason awards on Tuesday. 
•    A 2022 All-NESCAC second-team selection at Bates, Baxter ranked second in scoring, third in three-point field goals, sixth in three-point field goal percentage (42.5) and seventh in assists, steals and field goal percentage. 
•    Amado, who missed half of the Beavers' league games, ranked first in scoring, fourth in blocked shots and fifth in rebounding and field goal percentage (45.2) to collect his all league honor.

AMADO HITS 1,000-POINT MILESTONE
•    Thanks to a three-point play at the 13:22 mark of the second half in last Saturday's win at Clark, Amado became the 29th player in Babson history to surpass 1,000 points. 
•    The Beavers' first underclassmen to reach the milestone since all-time leading scorer Joey Flannery '17 back in 2015, Amado's career average of 16.3 points per game currently ranks 13th in program history. 

BATTLE TESTED
•    The Beavers faced two teams that reached this year's NCAA Tournament and played both down to the wire. 
•    Babson suffered a 75-72 loss at Albertus Magnus on November 11 and led by 13 at halftime before suffering a 80-85 OT setback at WashU in a game that saw Baxter drop a career-high 40 points on November 17. 

ONE WEEK IN FEBRUARY
•    The Beavers led for the entirety of the second half in all three NEWMAC Tournament games and trailed for a grand total of 15:06 with its largest deficit (28-23) coming late in the first half of last Thursday's semifinal at WPI.
•    Baxter, who was selected as the NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, averaged 28.3 points on 45.2 percent shooting to go along with 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in three conference tournament games. 
•    Amado returned from injury to put up 19.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, while junior David Cross averaged 12.0 points on 57.9 percent shooting. 
•    The Beavers averaged 1.11 points per possession and shot 40.6 percent from three-point range while turning the ball over on just 15.3 percent of its possessions. 
•    The Green and White made more free throws (49) than its tournament foes attempted (47). 

BEAVER BITES
•    Baxter has scored 15 or more points in 21 of his last 23 games, which includes putting up 20 or more points nine times. 
•    Since returning from an eight-game absence on January 24, O'Toole is grabbing over four offensive rebounds per game and is averaging 8.1 points and 9.8 boards. 
•    Over the last seven contests, Cross is averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 51.7 percent from beyond the arc. 
•    Sophomore Tyler Lauder grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in the NEWMAC Tournament semifinal win over WPI and then contributed eight points, four rebounds and three blocked shots in last Saturday's victory at Clark. 

TOUGH ON D
•    Over their last 10 games, the Beavers are allowing just 0.89 points per possession while holding their opponents to 39.9 percent shooting. 
•    Babson is giving up just 61.2 points and have held six of its 10 foes below 65 points during this stretch. 
•    The Green and White has limited its last 10 opponents to just 44.7 percent shooting on two-point attempts and just 27.6 percent from three-point range. 

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
•    Babson is 3-3 all-time against opponents from the state of New York in the NCAA Tournament. 
•    The Beavers defeated Skidmore in the second round of the 2017 tournament, Hartwick in the first round in 2016 and Union in the second round back in 2002. 
•    Babson's losses have come to Utica in the first round of last year's tournament, Ithaca in OT back in 2020 and at Rochester in the 2002 Sweet 16. 

HOMECOMING
•    The Beavers trip to Oswego State will serve as a relative home game for junior Aidan Horan, who hails from just outside of Buffalo in Orchard Park. 
•    Horan is fourth on the team in scoring averaging 6.3 points and 2.9 points in just over 20 minutes per game. He has scored in double figures seven times and is third on the team with 32 three-pointers. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 13-3 this winter when shooting better than 40 percent from the field. 
•    Babson is 13-5 this season when scoring at least 65 points.
•    The Green and White has won 10 consecutive games and is 19-1 over the last two seasons when allowing 60 points or less.
•    The Beavers are 6-9 away from home this season but have won four of their last six games going back to January 27. 
•    Babson is 11-4 on the year when outrebounding its opponents.
•    The Beavers are 8-2 when outscoring their foes at the free throw line.

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Friday's first round contest will face either No. 18 DeSales (24-3) or No. 21 Williams (21-6) on Saturday at 6 p.m.