NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Babson College used a balanced offensive attack with five players scoring between 14 and 11 points and held off a strong comeback attempt by Albertus Magnus College to pull out an 82-78 non-conference victory on Tuesday evening inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Center.
With the victory, the Beavers are off to a 2-0 start to the season for the first time since 2022, while the Falcons are 0-2 for the second year in a row.
Junior
Marc Begin II (Carlsbad, Calif.) led the Beavers with 14 points and six rebounds after going 8-for-8 from the free throw line, and first-year
Robby Fiore (Acton, Mass.) made 5-of-7 field goals and finished with 13 points and five boards. First-year
Thomas Ferdinando (Andover, Mass.) knocked down four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, sophomores
Timmy Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and
Gavin Aydelotte (Jensen Beach, Fla.) contributed 11 points apiece, and senior
Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) was one point shy of a double-double with nine points, a game-high 12 rebounds and a team-high four assists in the victory.
Junior Jayquan Kirkland (Stratford, Conn.) led all scorers with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc, and senior Ta'zhon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.) was good for 19 points and a game-high six assists for the Falcons. Junior Isaiah Earl (Hamden, Conn.) scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high seven boards in the setback.
The visitors took an early seven-point lead following a three-pointer by Mulvey just over three minutes after the opening tip-off, and the Falcons cut the margin to one after a three-ball by senior Ray Ford, Jr. (Jersey City, N.J.) three minutes later. Babson got the lead up to double digits at 31-21 after another Mulvey three with nine minutes to go in the half, and a long ball by sophomore
Logan Murphy (Sandwich, Mass.) gave the Beavers their largest lead of the half, 35-23, with eight minutes on the clock.
After the teams traded baskets, Albertus ran off eight straight points on a pair of Kirkland three-pointers and a Daniels jumper to slice the deficit to four with five minutes to go in the half. It stayed a two-possession game for the remainder of the half and Babson took a 45-41 lead into the break.
The Green and White opened the second half with seven straight points to get the margin back to double digits (52-41), sparked by a three-ball from Ferdinando two minutes into the frame. Babson had its biggest lead of the night, 57-44, after a layup by Lauder with 16 minutes remaining.
Albertus came alive and went on a 19-7 run over the next seven minutes, including a pair of threes by Kirkland, two buckets from Daniels and a long ball by Earl to make it a one-point game (64-63) with nine minutes to play. The Falcons kept the deficit within two possessions over the next seven minutes and pulled to within one point, 75-74, with 2:10 on the clock.
Lauder drained a pair of free throws for Babson with 1:33 remaining and Mulvey added one with 52 seconds on the clock to put Babson up by four, 78-74. Earl made two free throws with 28 seconds left to pull the hosts back to within two points, but Begin went 4-for-4 from the line for Babson in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.
The Beavers shot 47.5 percent from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc (10-of-25) while dominating the boards, 43-25. The Falcons shot 44.4 percent overall and 55.6 percent from long range.
Babson returns home to host No. 4 Tufts on Friday at 7 p.m. at Staake Gymnasium, while Albertus Magnus takes on Clark at the Westfield State Tournament on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson is 3-2 all-time against Albertus Magnus in a series that dates back to 2016 after the first win by the visiting team in the series.
• The Beavers have out-rebounded their first two opponents this season, 95-54, and are 13-2 since the start of last season when collecting more rebounds than their opponents.
• The Green and White have won their last 11 games going back to the start of last season when making at least 10 baskets from three-point range.
• Head coach
Stephen Brennan is just one win shy of becoming the ninth active coach in Division III to achieve 500 career victories.
