Bean Town Times

Men's Basketball Lock Up First NEWMAC Win Over Babson, 79-70

THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 79, Babson 70

Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym)

Date: January 4, 2023

Records: Emerson Lions (6-6, 1-0 NEWMAC) ; Babson Beavers (7-5, 0-1 NEWMAC)

The Lead: With the help of four starters in double-figures, led by graduate Nate Martin's 20 points, the Emerson men's basketball team opened their NEWMAC schedule with a home opening 79-70 victory over Babson on Wednesday night.

 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Martin: 20 points

Jarred Houston: 17 points, eight rebounds, three blocks

Brendan McNamara: 10 points

James Beckwith: 10 points, three assists

 

BABSONRyan Cibull: 21 points

Andrew Kirkpatrick: 16 points

Aaron Gao: 11 points

Timmy O'Toole: 11 rebounds

Mark Woolhouse: two blocks

Tyler Lauder: three assists

 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Out the gate, Emerson snagged a five-point 7-2 lead just four minutes in with the help of four points from Houston. After Babson closed in and leveled the score at 7-all, Emerson set off on a 12-0 spurt, capped by Martin's triple, and gave the host's their largest lead at 19-7 with 12:52 to go in the first.
• Babson followed up with a 12-point streak and held Emerson scoreless over the next several minutes to once again close the gap to two at 21-19. 
• Emerson had boosted their lead back up to six on a trey from Beckwith with 7:23 on the clock, but Babson used a three-point trip to the foul line to start a 12-2 run to push ahead for the first time at 31-27.
• The Lions continued to trail once the Beavers claimed the lead and stayed within no more than two up until the 35 second mark. Sophomore Trevor Arico converted a perfect trip to the stripe to lock the game at 38-all. 
• With 18 seconds left, Kirkpatrick sent up a midrange jumper to lift Babson by two as Emerson entered the break down a pair, 40-38.
• Emerson found themselves down five with four minutes of the second half gone after Cibull connected on a bucket to put Babson up, 48-43. Much like the first half, the Lions crawled back and pieced together a lengthy 10-1 spark to reclaim the four-point lead at 53-49 at 13:13. 
• The four-point lead was short-lived for over the next four minutes, the score locked four more times, the last coming at 8:22 at 62-all. Emerson got back to work starting at 8:01 and spread the next seven points  over two minutes to extend the cushion to seven at 69-62. 
• Babson converted their two shots and a successful free-throw trip to inch within a trio with 2:12 remaining in regulation, but the Emerson offense packed on the pressure and began to separate themselves. 
• With Babson closing within three, Emerson dropped their final eight points to boost the advantage up to nine after Martin put in the deciding bucket at 79-70. 
• Kirkpatrick sent up one final three-point attempt with 24 ticks on the clock, but it fell short and sealed Emerson's first NEWMAC win. 

Original source can be found here