OSWEGO, N.Y.—Junior Ahkee Anderson (Greenport, N.Y.) poured in 26 points and No. 9 Oswego State University built a 12-point halftime lead and held off a late rally to defeat visiting Babson College, 74-63, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night inside Max Ziel Gymnasium. 

Babson, which was making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, sees its season come to a close at 15-14. Oswego, which won its NCAA Tournament opener for the third year in a row, improves to 26-2 overall and advances to face No. 21 Williams on Saturday. 

Junior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and also led all players with 13 rebounds for the Beavers. Graduate student Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) scored 15 points to go along with two assists, two steals and two blocked shots, while junior David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) chipped in with 11 points in the loss. 

Anderson finished 10-of-15 from the field and senior Jeremiah Sparks (Jordan, N.Y.) made up for his 5-of-14 effort from the floor by going 11-of-17 at the free throw line and grabbing seven boards to pace the Lakers. Graduate student Julien Crittendon (Melville, N.Y.) scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half and senior Cartier Bowman (Trenton, N.J.) tied for game-high honors with 13 boards in the win. 

The Green and White trailed by as many as four just under six minutes into the contest before going on 11-2 run that included six points from Baxter and a left-wing three-pointer by Cross to take a 16-11 lead with 11:44 to go until halftime. Oswego responded with the next seven points to regain a two-point edge and pushed the margin to 25-19 on a layup by Anderson at the 5:44 mark. 

The Beavers got a bucket from sophomore Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) and another triple by Cross to pull back within two with 2:05 left in the stanza only to see Sparks and Anderson combine for eight points during a 10-0 burst that sent the Lakers into the locker room up 37-25. Babson responded with a 14-5 run to begin the second half as Amado knocked down his five field goal attempts and scored 11 points during the spurt to cut the deficit to 42-39 with 15:46 to play. 

Anderson scored nine of Oswego's next 10 points to extend the margin back to 52-44 and Crittendon knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner after the Beavers had closed to within four to make it 57-50 with 8:48 remaining. The Green and White got as close as six twice over the final five minutes only to see the Lakers answer with a hoop both times. 

Sparks scored in the paint for a 64-56 lead with 4:26 left and grabbed an offensive rebound on the next possession that led to a free-throw line jumper by Anderson that made the margin 66-58 with 3:26 to go. Babson was unable to get any closer than seven the rest of the way. 

The Beavers, who finished with a 42-41 edge on the glass, shot 37.9 percent from the field and were just 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Lakers shot 42.9 percent from the field and outscored Babson 22-8 at the free throw line.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 0-2 all-time against Oswego and Friday's matchup was the first between the teams since 1985.
•    Amado's 28 points are the third most by a Babson player in NCAA Tournament history and his 13 rebounds are the most since John Wickey '15 grabbed 15 in a second round victory over Scranton back in 2015. 
•    Baxter is one of just 15 players in program history to score more than 500 points in the season after finishing the year with 501. 
•    Babson is now 5-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament first round games.