Men's Basketball vs. Salve Regina
NEWMAC Tournament | Semifinal
Friday, February 27 | 7:30 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 16-4 all-time against Salve Regina in a series that dates back to the 1982-83 campaign.
• The Beavers have won 12 of the last 14 games between the teams, which includes four straight and five of six matchups since the Seahawks joined the NEWMAC prior to the 2023-24 season.
• The Green and White has won eight in a row versus Salve Regina inside Staake Gymnasium going back to 2008.
• All six games between the Beavers and Seahawks over the last three seasons have been decided by at least 14 points.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Friday's contest will be the first in the conference playoffs between Babson and Salve Regina.
REGULAR SEASON RESULTS
• The Beavers raced out to a 24-point halftime lead and defeated Salve Regina, 89-74, on January 21 in Babson Park before completing the regular season sweep of the Seahawks with a 98-64 win last Saturday in Newport, R.I.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Second-seeded Babson (19-6) has won seven in a row and 13 of its last 14 games dating back to January 10 after cruising past Salve Regina 98-64 in last Saturday's regular season finale.
• First-year
Thomas Ferdinando finished with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists, sophomore
Timmy Mulvey scored 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with a career-high four steals, and classmate
Logan Murphy added 10 points and three assists for the Beavers, who built a 24-point halftime lead and shot a season-best 60.7 percent in the rout.
• Ferdinando (16.6 pts, 4.0 reb, 2.6 ast) ranks fifth in the NEWMAC in scoring and has finished with 20 or more points in four of the last five games, Mulvey (15.9 pts, 2.5 ast) is eighth in the league in scoring and has connected on at least three three-pointers in 12 straight contests, and senior
Timmy O'Toole (10.0 pts, 8.7 reb) leads the conference in rebounding and is shooting 58.1 percent from the field.
• The Green and White ranks first against conference foes in scoring defense (62.5 points), rebounding margin (+4.4) and forced turnovers (14.9), and is making a league best 10.3 three-pointers per game.
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
• Third-seeded Salve Regina (19-7) made its NEWMAC Tournament debut on Thursday night defeating sixth-seeded Clark, 67-61, for its first conference tournament victory of any kind since the CCC (now CNE) semifinals in 2022.
• Sean Seymour scored 18 points, Dominic Malvey finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Jack McMullen posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes for the Seahawks, who shot 57.1 percent in the second half and outscored the Cougars 18-10 at the free throw line.
• Seymour (16.5 pts, 4.6 reb, 2.0 ast) ranks sixth in the league in scoring and has reached double figures in 11 of the last 12 games, Pat Spenard (12.9 pts, 5.6 reb) ranks fourth in the conference shooting 55.8 percent and Malvey (7.8 pts, 3.8 reb, 3.6 ast) is averaging 12.08 points on 56.1 percent shooting over the last four games.
• Salve Regina is shooting a league-best 49.8 percent versus NEWMAC foes while averaging 71.9 points and is holding opponents to just 32.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
HIGH FIVE!
• For the fourth time in the last six weeks and fifth time overall on the year, O'Toole was selected as the NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
• He averaged 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and one steal in the Beavers' victories over MIT and Salve Regina.
• O'Toole grabbed 11 boards while blocking two shots in last Wednesday's win over the Engineers and followed it up with five rebounds, one block and one steal in just 17 minutes of action in the triumph over the Seahawks.
POSTSEASON PEDIGREE
• Led by head coach
Stephen Brennan, the Beavers have capture six conference championships (2002, 2004, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024) and have advanced to the NEWMAC final five times over the last 10 years.
• Friday's game will mark the 12th time the Green and White has appeared in the NEWMAC semifinals going back to 2012.
• In addition to the conference tournament success, Brennan, who picked up his 500th career win back in November, has guided Babson to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, including four since 2020, two trips to the Division III Final Four (2015, 2017) and the program's first national championship in 2017.
THREE AT A TIME
• Mulvey enters the week ranked third in Division III in three-pointers per game (3.52) and total three-pointers (88), and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (44.7), while Ferdinando ranks eighth nationally in three-point percentage (43.9), first among freshmen and 11th overall in total three-pointers (79) and 12th in triples per game (3.16).
• Mulvey's 88 three-pointers this winter are tied for second on Babson's single-season list with the program's all-time leader Mark Giovino '98, who made a career-high 88 trifectas during the 1996-97 campaign. They trail only Nick Comenale '18, who made 110 three-pointers in 2016-17, on the Beavers' single-season chart.
• Mulvey also has moved into ninth place on the program's all-time list with 140 three-pointers over his first two seasons, while Ferdinando has shattered Babson's rookie record of 56 three-pointers and ranks sixth on the program's single season list with 79 trifectas.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS
• O'Toole has set a new career high with 218 rebounds this winter and ranks eighth in Division III averaging 3.96 offensive rebounds per game on the year.
• One of nine players in program history with more than 700 career boards, O'Toole passed John Wickey '15 for eighth place last Wednesday and now has 731 career rebounds.
• Since the statistic began being tracked at Babson in 1999-2000, O'Toole's 99 offensive rebounds this winter are a single-season record and his 311 career offensive boards are nearly 100 more than any other player over the last 26 seasons.
SECOND-HALF SURGE
• Since dropping its fourth straight game to slip to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the NEWMAC with a loss to Clark back on January 4, the Beavers have won 13 of their last 14 games while recording 11 double-digit victories.
• Babson has averaged 78.1 points and 1.18 points per possession during this stretch while shooting 46.5 percent overall and 52.3 percent on two-point attempts.
• Defensively, the Green and White is limiting opponents to 61.3 points and just 0.92 points per possession while forcing over 15 turnovers per game and holding its foes to just 30.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• In the two regular season matchups, Babson shot 56.7 percent from the floor in the first half while outscoring the Seahawks 99-51.
• The Beavers scored 35 points off turnovers and 21 second-chance points in addition to matching their season high with 16 three-pointers last Saturday in Newport.
• The Green and White has made 30 three-pointers in its two wins this winter over Salve Regina, and is also shooting 63.5 percent on two-point field goal attempts.
• Salve Regina committed 12 turnovers while attempting just 15 shots in the first half of last Saturday's game, and committed 10 of its 11 turnovers in the first half of January's loss in Babson Park.
BABSON TRENDS
• Senior
Tyler Lauder enters the postseason ranked fourth in the NEWMAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.66), seventh in blocked shots (1.0), eighth in assists (2.9) and 11th in rebounding (6.1).
• Ferdinando has scored in double figures in 16 straight games and has knocked down at least two three-pointers 10 consecutive outings, while Mulvey has reached double figures in 13 games in a row.
• Murphy, who is shooting 41.9 percent on the year from three-point range, is averaging 11.0 points on 68.4 percent shooting (13-of-19) over the last four games.
• O'Toole, who ranks second in the NEWMAC with six double-doubles, has grabbed multiple offensive rebounds in nine consecutive outings and has at least one steal in each of the last 15 games.
• Babson has attempted at least 20 three-pointers in every contest this season and in each of its last 34 games dating back to late January of last year.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers have won their last six games inside Staake Gymnasium and are 10-2 on the year at home.
• Babson is 16-3 this winter when shooting at least 40 percent from the field.
• The Green and White is a perfect 8-0 on the year when forcing at least 16 turnovers.
• The Beavers are 15-0 this season when outrebounding their opponents.
• Babson is 11-1 this year when holding its foes below 70 points.
• The Green and White is 14-1 this winter when making at least 10 three-pointers.
UP NEXT
• The winner of Friday's semifinal will advance to the NEWMAC Tournament final on Sunday to face either top-seeded and 21st-ranked WPI or fourth-seeded Wheaton.