WORCESTER, Mass.—Sophomore Justin Molen (Newark, Del.) scored a game-high 19 points including the go-ahead hoop with just over three minutes to play as No. 18 WPI ended the game on a 9-3 run and defeated visiting Babson College, 71-65, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Harrington Auditorium. 

Babson, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, slips to 12-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play. WPI improves to 17-2 overall and 9-1 in the NEWMAC with its ninth consecutive victory. 

First-year Timmy Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) scored 17 points and went 4-of-8 from three-point range, while senior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals to lead the Beavers. Classmate David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) added seven points and two assists in the loss. 

Molen was 6-of-8 from the floor and grabbed eight boards, while senior Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) contributed 14 points, a game-high 10 boards, four assists and three steals to pace the Engineers. Fellow senior Tim Reidy (Needham, Mass.) and junior JR Newman (Havertown, Pa.) both scored 11 points in the win. 

WPI led by as many as seven over the first eight minutes and used an 11-3 run that included five points from Reidy to take its largest advantage of the night at 30-20 on a corner three-pointer by sophomore Jack Bleier (Victor, N.Y.) with 3:30 to go until halftime. Mulvey scored seven of Babson's next nine points and junior Jeremiah Paul (Los Angeles, Calif.) buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to cap a 12-1run that put the visitors in front 32-31 with 41 seconds to go in the stanza. 

Amado scored four straight points to begin the second half and then followed back-to-back triples by Mulvey with another bucket to give the Beavers their largest lead of the night at 44-37 with 15:55 remaining. Callahan and Reidy both drained three-pointers as part of a 9-4 burst to cut the margin to 48-46 at the 12:34 mark, and Newman followed with another trifecta to put the Engineers back in front 51-50 with 10:33 to play. 

Mulvey answered with a three-pointer for the Green and White and Cross and first-year Vaughn Foster (Paramus, N.J.) scored inside to make it 57-54 with 7:25 left. WPI responded with an 8-0 spurt to grab a 62-57 advantage on a three-pointer by Reidy with 5:17 to go before the Beavers tied it up thanks to a triple by Cross and two free throws from Amado at the 3:59 mark. 

Hoops by Molen and Callahan gave the hosts a 66-63 edge with 1:29 to play and the Beavers were unable to get any closer than two over the final minute after going just 2-of-6 at the free throw line. Newman made it a four-point game by going 2-of-2 at the charity stripe with 20 seconds left and graduate student Nicholas Margetson (Baldwin, N.Y.) canned two more free throws to put the game away with 13 seconds remaining. 

The Green and White shot 42.9 percent from the floor and outscored WPI 30-22 in the paint while finishing with a 40-36 edge on the glass. The Engineers shot 42.1 percent and turned 13 turnovers by the Beavers into 18 points. 

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Clark at 1 p.m., while WPI travels to Coast Guard at 3 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 53-41 all-time against WPI and four of the last seven games between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer. 
•    Five of Babson's six NEWMAC road games this winter have been decided by a total of just 12 points. 
•    Wednesday's loss marked just the second time in 11 games this year that the Beavers have lost when outrebounding their opponent. 
•    Babson's 13 turnovers are its most in eight games going back to a four-point loss at Clark on January 8.