BABSON PARK, Mass.—First-year Aliaun Iscandari (Hawthorne, Calif.) scored all 17 of his points in the second half to lead four players in double figures as visiting Clark University defeated Babson College, 77-69, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson, which has dropped four consecutive games, slips to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Clark snapped a two-game skid to improve to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the NEWMAC. 

First-year Thomas Ferdinando (Andover, Mass.) scored a career-high 28 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and two steals to lead the Beavers. Classmate Robby Fiore (Acton, Mass.) scored nine points off the bench, while seniors Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) and Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) contributed eight points and seven rebounds in the loss. 

Sophomore Boluwasefe John (Corona, N.Y.) provided 16 points, 13 boards and four blocks, sophomore Kyle Squires (Kingston, Mass.) scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc and senior Reid Neumann (Burbank, Calif.) added 14 points to pace the Cougars. Junior Quentin Pridgen (Fitchburg, Mass.) also chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds and a game-high six assists in the victory. 

The Green and White took its largest lead of the opening half at 19-13 on Ferdinando's third triple before Clark quickly answered with an 8-0 spurt that included three-pointers by Neumann and first-year David Fridia (Allentown, Pa.) to go back in front 21-19 at the 7:40 mark. The lead changed hands four times over the next three minutes before seven points from Neumann keyed a 14-2 run that stretched the Cougars' lead to 37-26 with 32 seconds to play in the opening stanza. 

Trailing by eight at the break, the Beavers scored on four of their first five possessions of the second half to pull within 43-38 on a layup by O'Toole with 16:03 to play. The margin remained between five and eight points over the next seven-plus minutes before Squires followed a dunk by John with a corner triple to make it 62-52 with 8:20 remaining. 

Iscandari answered two free throws by Ferdinando with a three-pointer just over a minute later and Squires buried another trifecta to give Clark its biggest lead of the contest at 68-56 with 6:30 left. Babson made one final push as Fiore followed up buckets by Lauder and O'Toole with five straight points to cap a 9-0 run that cut the deficit to three with 3:34 remaining, but came up empty on its next possession after getting a stop as the Cougars used a dunk by John and Squires final three-pointer of the night to regain a 73-65 edge with 1:23 to play. 

The Beavers, who committed a season-low seven turnovers, shot 40.3 percent from the floor and struggled from deep, finishing just 7-of-28 (25 percent). Clark shot 56 percent in the second half and 54.9 percent for the game from the field and 50 percent (12-of-24) from long range. 

Both teams return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as Babson travels to Coast Guard while Clark visits Salve Regina. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers have dropped three straight games in the series and are now 42-43 all-time against Clark. 
•    O'Toole grabbed four offensive rebounds in Wednesday's loss and has now finished with four or more in eight of Babson's first 11 games this winter. 
•    The Green and White is off to an 0-2 start in NEWMAC play for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign. 
•    The Beavers are now 3-4 on the year when shooting below 50 percent from the field.