Wheaton played outstanding defense in the first half, holding the home team to just 25.0 percent shooting while forcing 13 turnovers. The Lyons also dominated the glass, gathering 23 rebounds to Babson’s nine. That allowed the visitors to build a commanding 30-12 lead with 2:40 remaining in the half, but the Beavers scored the final three points of regulation to cut their deficit to 15 at the break.
The two teams played evenly through the first six minutes of the second half, as Wheaton held a 35-23 advantage with 13:48 left. Babson junior Dan Elliman (Tewksbury, Mass.) then pulled his team back into the game, scoring eight of the game’s next 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers and a breakaway dunk, to pull the Beavers to within six at 37-31 with just over 11 minutes remaining.
With its lead quickly shrinking, Wheaton pounded the ball inside to senior Scott Mahan (Bridgewater, Mass.) over the next two minutes. The 6-7 forward drew a pair of fouls and sank all four resulting free throws, pushing his team’s lead back to double-digits, 41-31, with 9:48 on the clock. However, Babson completely dominated the next five minutes of play, as the Beavers erupted for a 16-1 run to take a 47-42 lead. Senior co-captain Luke Weber (Highland Mills, N.Y.) scored four of the first five points during the spurt, followed by five straight points from junior Phil Riffe (Newton, Mass.), including a huge fade-away three that cut Babson’s deficit to just one at 42-41. Senior co-captain Jeff Hines (Waltham, Mass.) then gave the Beavers their first lead of the contest with a jumper with 6:04 left, and sophomore Brian Parsons (Queensbury, N.Y.) and Elliman added two points each over the next two minutes as Babson built a five-point advantage with 4:47 to go.
After Wheaton got back to within three on a pair of free throws from senior Richard Henninger (Duxbury, Mass.), Riffe hit the biggest shot of the game when he came off a screen to bury a three from well behind the line. That gave the Beavers their largest lead of the contest, 50-44, with just under one minute remaining, but Lyons junior Josean Vega (Framingham, Mass.) once again made it a one-possession game when he knocked down a trifecta from the right corner with 38 seconds on the clock.
After Hines made one of two free throws, Mahan drew a foul and sank a pair of his own, cutting Wheaton’s deficit to two at 51-49 with 25 seconds left. Weber answered with one of two from the line to put Babson up three, and then collected a big defensive board at the other end after Vega missed a driving lay-up attempt. Following a Lyons’ foul, Hines stepped to the line for two shots, but both attempts rimmed out, and Wheaton had one final chance to tie the contest with 5.5 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Wheaton pushed the ball up the left sideline, but Weber got a hand on the Lyons’ second pass. Sophomore James Greenslit (Framingham, Mass.) eventually regained possession of the loose ball at the top of the key, but the buzzer sounded before he could get a shot off as Babson escaped with the 52-49 victory.
In a contest dominated by defense, Riffe finished with a game-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a 4-for-9 clip from three-point range. Elliman added 10 points and three steals for the Beavers, while Hines contributed six points, four rebounds, and three steals.
Vega led Wheaton with 13 points despite being limited by foul trouble to just 22 minutes of playing time. Mahan finished with 10 points and two blocks, while Henninger added seven points and a game-high eight rebounds.