BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) finished with career highs of 26 points and 17 rebounds to help Babson College open the season by defeating Brandeis University 86-82 in overtime on Saturday night inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson (1-0) won its season opener for the fourth time in the last five seasons, while Brandeis (0-1) starts the year with a loss for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign. 

O'Toole finished 12-of-17 shooting in addition to adding three steals and a game-high two blocked shots to lead the Beavers. First-year Thomas Ferdinando (Andover, Mass.) scored 14 points and sophomore Timmy Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and first-year Robby Fiore (Acton, Mass.) added 11 points apiece in the win. Senior Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) pulled down 11 rebounds and led all players with six assists to go along with four points. 

Senior Elias Rodl (Berlin, Germany) scored 21 points and sophomore Alex Zakheim (Bergenfield, N.J.) added 20 points, six steals and five assists to lead the Judges. Senior Matthew Cadogan (Weston, Fla.) battled through foul trouble to finish with 14 points and graduate student Jai Deshpande (San Carlos, Calif.) went 6-of-7 at the free throw line on the way to scoring 10 points in the loss. 

The Green and White took a 42-41 advantage on a jumper by Fiore with 17:11 to go in the second half and sophomore Gavin Aydelotte (Jensen Beach, Fla.) followed a three-pointer by sophomore Logan Murphy (Sandwich, Mass.) with two free throws to extend the margin to 53-45 with 14:00 remaining. Brandeis cut its deficit to just three at the 8:18 mark but back-to-back three-pointers by Fiore and Ferdinando gave the hosts their largest lead of the night at 70-60 with just under seven minutes to play. 

Two free throws by Murphy kept Babson in front 75-68 with 2:03 left but Zakheim scored five quick points around a turnover to make it a two-point game, Cadogan tied things up on a layup with 36 seconds to go and both teams turned the ball over in the final 18 seconds sending the game to overtime. Cadogan went 1-of-2 at the free throw line to put the Judges in front 78-77 with 3:08 to play but O'Toole answered with a bucket in the paint and Mulvey drilled a three-pointer from the left wing to give the Green and White an 82-78 advantage with 39 seconds left. 

Ferdinando and Fiore both went 2-of-2 at the charity stripe over the final 28 seconds to seal the win. 

The Beavers missed 13 of their first 15 shots to start the game and trailed by as many as nine after a dunk by Rodl with 10:41 to go in the first half. O'Toole scored 11 points during a 15-4 run that helped Babson go in front 30-26 only to see Brandeis counter with an 11-2 spurt over the final 2:17 of the period to regain a 37-32 edge at the half. 

The Beavers shot 44.3 percent from the floor and finished with a 52-29 edge on the glass. The Judges shot 41.4 percent and attempted 42 free throws while outscoring the Green and White 31-13 at the free throw line. 

Babson is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Albertus Magnus at 7 p.m., while Brandeis plays the second of five straight road games at Western New England on Wednesday at 7 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 25-24 all-time against Brandeis and have won three straight games in the series. 
•    Going back to the start of last season, Babson is 12-2 when outrebounding its opponents. 
•    The Green and White knocked down 11 three-pointers in Saturday's win and have its last nine outings when making at least 10.
•    Babson is now 2-0 in overtime and 4-5 in games decided by five points or less since the start of last year.