BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds and the sixth-seeded Coast Guard Academy closed the game with a 12-2 run on the way to upsetting third-seeded Babson College, 80-69, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson, which entered the tournament as the back-to-back champions, sees its season come to a close at 16-10. Coast Guard (11-15) advances to the NEWMAC semifinals for the first time since 2020 with the win and will face second-seeded Clark on Thursday in Worcester.
Senior
Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) finished with 20 points and nine rebounds to lead three players in double figures for the Beavers. First-year
Ryan Frauenheim (Manasquan, N.J.) score a career-high 17 points and graduate student
Felix Kloman (Ipswich, Mass.) chipped I with 15 points, five boards and three assists.
Farrell went 7-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the free throw line while adding two steals and two blocked shots for the Bears. Junior Trevor Parks (Oldsmar, Fla.) scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half to go along with seven boards, and classmate Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in addition to pulling down six rebounds. First-year Colin Huang (Irvine, Calif.) chipped in with 11 points, seven boards and three assists in the win.
The Green and White forced eight early turnovers but Coast Guard settled in getting 10 points from Farrell and Parks while scoring on six of seven possessions to take a 31-24 lead, its largest of the first half, on a Parks triple at the 5:47 mark. Graduate student
Alex Stoddard (Wellesley, Mass.) answered with a three-pointer, Kloman scored four straight points and Amado followed a layup by junior
Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) with a dunk that pulled the Beavers within 38-37 just 44 seconds before the break.
Seniors Ben Yagey (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Declan Rooney (Seattle, Wash.) buried three-pointers to spark a 10-3 Bears' run and Farrell completed a three-point play following a layup by Huang to stretch their advantage to 56-48 with 13:54 to play. Babson responded with nine straight points, including the first six by Frauenheim, before Amado canned a mid-range jumper to grab a 57-56 lead with 9:46 remaining.
Coast Guard responded with a 10-4 spurt that included back-to-back triples by Parent to regain a 66-61 edge at the 7:09 mark. The Beavers closed to within 68-67 on a pair of free throws by Kloman with 2:56 left but Farrell answered by going 2-of-2 at the charity stripe with 1:35 to go and Parent followed with a pull-up jumper on the ensuing possession to make it 74-69 with 1:14 to play.
The Green and White missed three-pointers on its next two possessions and the Bears put the game by going 6-of-8 at the free throw line over the final 55 seconds.
The Beavers shot just 37.3 percent and were just 5-of-28 (17.9 percent) from behind the arc. They also were outrebounded 41-29. Coast Guard shot 63.6 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game went 21-of-25 at the free throw line (84 percent) in the win.
GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 65-29 all-time against Coast Guard but just 2-6 in the NEWMAC Tournament versus the Bears.
• Tuesday's loss was just the Beavers' third over their last 15 games at home going back to last February.
• Amado concludes his Babson career ranked second in blocked shots (92), seventh in scoring (1,521 points) and ninth in rebounds (664).
• After averaging 1.08 points per possession in two regular season wins over Coast Guard, the Beavers scored just 0.97 points per possession on Tuesday night.
