MBB Drops Rematch at Babson
BABSON PARK, Mass.—A week after the two teams met for the first time ever, Babson College defeated Mitchell College by a 90-66 final on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson, which snapped a two-game skid, improved to 6-2 on the year, while Mitchell dropped to 0-4.
Matt Pattyson scored a career-high 15 points to lead five Beavers in double figures. Aaron Gao and Andrew Kirkpatrick each scored 12 first-half points, while James Welch came off the bench to finish with 11 points. Andrew Jaworski added 10 points and game-high five assists in the victory.
Elijah Baidoo netted a game-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists to pace Mariners. Jalen Benson added 12 points, four assists and two steals in the loss.
Kirkpatrick and Gao, who capped a 13-5 run with back-to-back three-pointers, combined to score 22 of Babson's first 31 points to give the hosts an eight-point lead with under eight minutes to go in the opening stanza. Mitchell pulled within 31-26 on a triple by Jacob Tully at the 5:25 mark, but the Beavers responded with a 16-6 spurt that included five points apiece from Pattyson and Welch to stretch their lead to 47-32 at the break.
The Mariners got as close as 13 on a layup by Baidoo just under three minutes into the second half before Babson rattled off a 12-3 run that included three-pointers by Matt Corey and Jesse Jones that pushed its lead to 64-42 with 13:51 to go in the contest. The margin never dipped below 15 over the final 13 minutes and got to as many as 26 with less than four minutes to play after the Beavers scored six times in the span of seven possessions. Max Gussen converted a layup after grabbing an offensive board, Jones and Jaworski canned back-to-back three-pointers, and Welch followed with pull-up jumpers on three consecutive trips to give the Green and White an 87-61 advantage with 3:24 remaining.
The Beavers shot 47.9 percent from the floor and matched their season high with 15 three-point field goals. They also finished with a 41-32 edge on the glass.
Mitchell shot a season-best 45.8 percent but struggled at the free throw line, finishing just 5-of-12 (41.7 percent).
Babson returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Eastern Nazarene at 1 p.m., while the Mariners wrap up their season at Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Friday at 7 p.m.