BABSON PARK, Mass.—Graduate student Alex Stoddard (Wellesley, Mass.) and senior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) combined for 12 points over the final four minutes to help Babson College defeat visiting Wheaton College, 70-65, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson, which has won two of its last three games, improves to 14-9 overall and 8-6 in conference play. Wheaton has dropped five of its last six contests to slip to 10-12 overall and 5-8 in the NEWMAC. 

Stoddard scored a team-high 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added a pair of late blocks, while Amado and graduate student Felix Kloman (Ipswich, Mass.) both finished with 12 points for the Beavers. Amado led all players with 10 rebounds and Kloman dished out a team-high four assists in the victory. 

Sophomore Dominic Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) led all players with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with five assists and five steals for the Lyons. Junior Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) contributed 11 points and eight rebounds, while senior Khaled Thaher (Ammad, Jordan) and first-year Rex Zadrzony (Cumberland, R.I.) both scored eight points in the loss. 

Wheaton used a 10-2 run to open a 19-11 lead on a free throw by Morrissey at the 8:48 mark of the first half before the Green and White responded with a 9-0 run that included a pair of hoops by senior David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) to go back in front 20-19 on a layup by first-year Logan Murphy (Sandwich, Mass.) just over two minutes later. The visitors responded by scoring on seven of their final nine possessions of the period though, and regained a 33-28 advantage going to the locker rooms. 

Babson went without a field goal over the first five minutes of the second half and trailed by as many as 10 on a putback dunk by Zadrozny with 15:23 remaining before putting together a 22-9 spurt over the next seven-plus minutes. Junior Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) scored six points in the span of five possessions to cut the deficit to 46-44, first-year Ryan Frauenheim (Manasquan, N.J.) and Murphy canned back-to-back three-pointers and Amado finished inside on the following trip to give the Beavers a 52-49 lead with 8:06 to play. 

Wheaton responded with an 8-0 run only to see the Green and White follow with seven consecutive points to regain a 59-57 edge on a triple by Stoddard with 3:46 to go. Stoddard buried another three-pointer following a bucket inside by Amado to make it 64-59 and Amado went 2-of-2 at the line to extend the lead to seven with 61 seconds left. 

The Lyons closed within 66-63 on a Morrisey three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining and first-year Sean Perri (West Roxbury, Mass.) missed a potential game-tying trifecta from the right corner with 11 seconds to play before Kloman and Stoddard sealed the wins with two free throws apiece. 

The Beavers shot just 39 percent from the floor but went 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) at the charity stripe and turned 13 Wheaton turnovers into 15 points. The Lyons shot 45.3 percent on the night but finished just 11-of-18 (61.1 percent) at the free throw line. 

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

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 43-16 all-time versus Wheaton although the teams have now split the season series in each of the last three years. 
•    Babson is now 9-1 this season when holding its opponents below 70 points.
•    Amado posted his team-leading seventh double-double of the year, while Kloman has now made at least one three-pointer in each of his 18 games this winter. 
•    The Beavers have won 14 of their last 17 games at home going back to January 6 of last season.