Men's Basketball vs. Saint Joseph's (Maine)
NCAA Tournament | First Round
Friday, March 6 | 4:30 p.m. 
Hartford, Conn. | Ray Ooosting Gymnasium 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    Babson earned one of 43 automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament by capturing its third NEWMAC championship in the last four seasons on Sunday. 
•    The Beavers ended the season ranked No. 21 in the NPI and will open the NCAA Tournament in Hartford, Conn., along with No. 1 Trinity, Saint Joseph's (Maine) and Keuka. 

SCHEDULE
First Round | Friday, March 6
Babson (21-6) vs. Saint Joseph's (20-8), 4:30 p.m.
Keuka (15-13) at No. 1 Trinity (25-2), 7 p.m. 

Second Round | Saturday, March 7
First round winners, 7 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson and Saint Joseph's will meet for the first time in Friday's first round. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 14th
Best NCAA Finish: 2017 National Champions 
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2024 (first round)
•    Babson (21-6) has won nine straight games and 15 of its last 16 overall after defeating Wheaton, 81-56, in last Sunday's NEWMAC Tournament final. 
•    First-year Thomas Ferdinando poured in a game-high 27 points, sophomore Timmy Mulvey added 18 and classmate Logan Murphy scored eight of his 11 points in the first half for the Beavers, who outscored the Lyons 26-6 over the first 10 and a half minutes of the second half. 
•    Ferdinando (17.0 pts, 4.1 reb, 2.7 ast) ranks ninth in Division III shooting 43.2 percent from beyond the arc, Mulvey (16.1 pts, 2.4 ast) is second nationally with 94 three-pointers and senior Timmy O'Toole (9.9 pts, 9.1 reb, 1.7 stl) leads the team with seven double-doubles this winter. 
•    The Green and White ranks sixth in Division III in three-point percentage (37.9), 19th in three-pointers per game (10.6) and 31st in scoring defense holding opponents to 66.7 points per game. 

SCOUTING THE MONKS
NCAA Tournament Appearance: 4th
Best NCAA Finish: First round (2003, 2009, 2025)
Last NCAA Tournament Appearance: 2025 (lost to Redlands in the first round)
•    Saint Joseph's (20-8) extended the nation's third longest winning streak to 17 games with a 92-58 rout of Saint Joseph (Conn.) in the GNAC Tournament final last Sunday. 
•    Remijo Wani finished with 27 points, six rebounds and four steals, John Paul Frazer knocked down six three-pointers on the way to scoring 20 points and Wani Donato added 17 points and 12 boards to lead five players in double figures for the Monks, who shot 50.7 percent in the victory. 
•    Wani (23.3 pts, 6.7 reb, 3.1 ast) ranks 17th in Division III in scoring has put up at least 22 points in nine of the last 11 games, Donato (15.5 pts, 7.5 reb, 3.8 ast, 1.5 blocks) is shooting 57 percent from the field, Frazer (15.3 pts, 4.4 reb, 2.3 ast) has made a team-high 78 three-pointers and Davis Mann (13.9 pts, 5.2 reb) leads the squad with 71 offensive rebounds. 
•    Saint Joseph's ranks fourth in Division III in rebounding margin (+9.8), is 11th in offensive rebounds per game (15.21), 23rd in three-pointers per game (10.2) and 27th nationally in scoring offense averaging 85.6 points. 

BABSON IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
•    After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 last winter, the Beavers return for the 14th time in program history and the ninth time since 2014. 
•    Babson claimed the school's first Division III national championship with a 79-78 win over Augustana (Ill.) in 2017 after advancing to the national semifinals for the first time in program history in 2015.
•    The Green and White also reached the Sweet 16 in 2002 and 2016 and lost to eventual national champions Randolph-Macon in the second round of the 2022 tournament.
•    The Beavers are 5-6 all-time in NCAA first round games and suffered a 74-63 loss at ninth-ranked Oswego in their opening game of the 2024 championship. 

POSTSEASON PEDIGREE
•    Babson head coach Stephen Brennan, now in his 31st season, is set to lead the Beavers into the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time in his career. 
•    A nine-time coach of the year honoree, Brennan is 15-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with 13 of the victories coming since 2015. 
•    Brennan, who has now led the Green and White to 20 or more wins nine times, currently ranks ninth among active Division III coaches with 518 victories. 

THREE BEAVERS RECOGNIZED WITH ALL-NEWMAC HONORS
•    O'Toole was selected as the league's defensive player of the year, Ferdinando garnered rookie of the year accolades and both players joined Mulvey on the all-conference first team when the NEWMAC announced its postseason awards on Tuesday. 
•    O'Toole, who was selected as the league's defensive player of the week five times during the season, ranked first in rebounding (9.1), third in steals (1.7) and fifth in blocked shots (1.1) on the way to becoming Babson's first NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year honoree. 
•    Ferdinando became the first Beavers' rookie to earn All-NEWMAC first-team recognition since current associate head coach Joey Flannery '17 back in 2014, and is the program's second consecutive rookie of the year after Mulvey won the award last winter. 
•    Babson placed three players on the All-NEWMAC first team for the first time since 2017 and just the second time in the history of the conference. 

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS
•    O'Toole enters the NCAA Tournament ranked fifth in offensive rebounds per game (4.19) and has set new career highs in rebounds per game (9.1), offensive rebounds (113) and total rebounds (247).
•    The most productive offensive rebounder in program history, O'Toole is the only player to chase down more than 100 in a single season, and his 325 career offensive boards are 100 more than any player since Babson began tracking the statistic in 1999-2000. 
•    He ranks eighth all-time with 760 rebounds, which is 19 behind current associate head coach Joey Flannery '17, and his 247 boards this winter are 11th in single-season history. 

THREE AT A TIME
•    Muvley's 94 three-pointers rank second in both single-season program history and Division III this winter, and he also enters the NCAA Tournament ranked third nationally in three-pointers per game (3.48) and 13th in three-point percentage (42.9). 
•    Ferdinando has connected on 86 triples shattering the Babson freshman record of 56 set back in 1994, and ranks eighth in Division III in total three-pointers, ninth in three-point percentage (43.2) and 13th in three-pointers per game (3.19). 
•    Mulvey also ranks ninth in Babson history with 146 three-pointers in 51 games over his first two seasons.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS
•    Senior Tyler Lauder ranks 11th in program history with 61 blocked shots and is 18th all-time with 512 rebounds. 
•    In addition to ranking eighth in rebounds, O'Toole is sixth in school history with 73 blocked shots and tied for 12th with 142 career steals. 

A CLASS BY THEMSELVES
•    With Saturday's victory over Wheaton, the Babson senior class of Lauder, O'Toole, Jojo Chalumeau and Jeremiah Paul are the first in program history to capture three NEWMAC Tournament championships during their careers. 
•    As freshman back in 2023, they helped the Beavers defeat WPI 59-53 in Worcester, and the group followed it up with a 73-64 victory at Clark in the 2024 conference final before routing Wheaton on Sunday. 

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 15 of their last 16 games while recording 12 double-digit victories. 
•    Babson has averaged 78.3 points and 1.20 points per possession during this stretch while shooting 46.9 percent overall, 53.2 percent on two-point attempts and 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.
•    Defensively, the Green and White is limiting opponents to 60.8 points and just 0.94 points per possession while forcing nearly 15 turnovers per game and holding its foes to just 29.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc. 

BABSON TRENDS
•    O'Toole, who was selected as the NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 9.0 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists, has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 13 games this winter. 
•    Lauder leads the team in assists (76), is second in blocked shots (25) and rebounds per game (6.3), and owns a 1.55 assist-to-turnover ratio in 25 starts this season. 
•    Ferdinando has scored in double figures in 18 straight games and has knocked down at least two three-pointers 12 consecutive outings, while Mulvey has reached double figures in 15 games in a row and has connected on three or more triples in each of the last 14 contests. 
•    Murphy enters the NCAA Tournament having scored in double figures for three straight games for the first time in his career and is averaging 10.8 points on 55.6 percent shooting (20-of-36) over the last six games. 
•    Sophomore Ryan Frauenheim scored a season-high 14 points in the Beavers' NEWMAC Tournament semifinal win over Salve Regina and averaged 11.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the field in a pair of conference tournament games. 

BEAVER BITES
•    Babson has attempted at least 20 three-pointers in each of its last 36 games going back to last season and the both the Beavers and Monks have attempted 19 or more triples in every game this winter. 
•    The Beavers have limited 16 of their 27 opponents to nine or fewer offensive rebounds, while Saint Joseph's has pulled down 12 or more offensive boards in 24 of 28 contests. 
•    Babson and Saint Joseph's shared five common opponents during the 2024-25 campaign, which includes the Beavers beating GNAC foes Saint Joseph (Conn.), Albertus Magnus and Lasell while the Monks suffered single-digit losses to NEMWAC opponents WPI and Clark back in November. 
•    Babson and Saint Joseph's are both ranked among the top 25 in Division III in efficiency margin with the Beavers ranking 14th in adjusted offense and 45th in adjusted defense, while the Monks are 39th in offense and 33rd in defense per The D3 Datacast. 
•    Friday's game features three of the top three-point marksmen in Division III as Mulvey (94) and Ferdinando (86) rank second and eighth, respectively for Babson, while Frazer ranks 21st with his 76 triples. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 9-1 on the year when shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 18-3 when they hit at least 40 percent of their shots. 
•    Babson is 8-0 this season when forcing at least 16 turnovers. 
•    The Green and White is 17-0 when it outrebounds its opponents. 
•    The Beavers are 15-2 when shooting at least 70 percent at the free throw line.
•    Babson is 13-0 when scoring at least 80 points and 13-1 when it allows fewer than 70 points. 
•    The Green and White is 6-1 in games decided by five points or less. 
•    The Beavers are 16-1 this winter when making at least 10 three-pointers. 

UP NEXT
•    The winner of Friday's contest will face either top-ranked Trinity or Keuka in Saturday's second round at 7 p.m.