BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) tied his career high with 32 points to help Babson College defeat visiting Emerson College, 92-81, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson, which has won three straight and nine of its last 11 games, improves to 12-6 overall and 6-3 in conference play with the victory. Emerson has now dropped its last four games to slip to 7-11overall and 2-7 in the NEWMAC. 

Amado went 10-of-19 from the floor and added nine rebounds, five assists and four steals to pace the Beavers. Graduate student Alex Stoddard (Wellesley, Mass.) scored 18 points and dished out a career-high five assists, while junior Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) contributed eight points and eight boards in the win. 

Junior Linus Helmhold (Krefeld, Germany) scored 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and graduate Trevor Arico (Ann Arbor, Mich.) finished with 22 points to lead the Lions. Senior Lucas Brenner (Miami, Fla.) chipped in with 12 points and three assists in the loss. 

The Green and White made 11 of its first 14 shots, which includes going 6-of-7 from three-point range, to open a 28-15 lead less than seven minutes into the contest. Senior David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) then keyed a 7-0 spurt after Emerson had trimmed its deficit to six at the 5:45 mark, but the visitors responded with a 13-5 burst that included a pair of triples by Brenner to pull within 45-40 at the half. 

Senior Asher Gardiner (Christchurch, New Zealand) made it a three-point game with a bucket on the Lions' opening possession of the second half before the Beavers went on a 13-2 run that included five points from Amado and three-pointers from first-year Timmy Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and Stoddard to regain a 58-44 edge with 15:37 to play. Helmhold scored 13 points as Emerson outscored Babson 17-11 over the next eight minutes to pull within 69-61 only to see the hosts respond by scoring 14 of the next 18 points to put the game away. 

Amado scored a pair of buckets in the paint and added two free throws to extend the margin to 77-61 at the 5:26 mark. He followed with three more points at the charity stripe and Stoddard went 2-of-2 at the foul line to give the Green and White its largest lead of the afternoon at 83-65 with 2:51 remaining. 

The Beavers shot 47.6 percent from the floor, outscored the Lions 38-26 in the paint and finished with a 41-27 advantage on the glass, which included scoring 19 seconds chance-points on 16 offensive boards. Emerson shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the first half and 52.7 percent for the game. 

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday as Babson travels to 19th-ranked WPI at 5:30 p.m., while Emerson hosts Coast Guard at 7 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 33-7 all-time against Emerson and have won 12 of the last 13 games between the teams inside Staake Gymnasium. 
•    Babson made 10 three-pointers in Saturday's win and improves to 7-0 this winter when hitting at least 10 triples.
•    The Green and White has won seven consecutive NEWMAC home games dating back to January of last year, all of them by at least 11 points. 
•    The Beavers are 9-1 this season when outrebounding their opponents.