Babson (7-14, 1-7 NEWMAC) used an 8-0 run midway through the first half to turn a 10-9 lead into an 18-9 advantage with 12:53 left. Clark (7-13, 3-6 NEWMAC) eventually pulled to within four on an offensive rebound and put-back by first-year Pat Landers (Worcester, Mass.) with 8:19 remaining, but the Beavers quickly answered with a 6-0 run to push their lead back to 10. Babson later took its largest lead of the half, 34-23, heading into the break, as senior tri-captain Phil Riffe (Newton, Mass.) drained a three-pointer with 55 seconds left.
The Beavers continued to maintain a double-digit lead through the first five minutes of the second half, and still led by 10 at 45-35 after a jumper by first-year Greg Bush (East Islip, N.Y.) with 11:19 remaining in the game. Clark then rattled off seven straight points, including a three-pointer by first-year DJ Brinn (Madison, Conn.), to get to withing three, 45-42, and then remained within two possessions for the next two minutes of play.
With his team still trailing by three at 49-46, Landers put back a missed jumper by first-year Jon Janarelli (Enfield, Conn.) to cut Clark’s deficit to one, 49-48, with just over five minutes left. Landers later tied the contest on a free throw with 4:18 on the clock, but sophomore Brandon Eigenberg (Franklin, Mass.) answered with a tough jumper in the lane to put Babson back in front, 51-49, with 3:50 remaining. First-year David Votta (Roswell, Ga.) then came up with two huge defensive plays for the Beavers, as he drew back-to-back charges on Clark’s next two possessions. However, the Babson first-year would be whistled for a foul on his third attempt with two minutes remaining, and Cougars’ sophomore Cory Szklarz (Worcester, Mass.) converted both of the ensuing free throws to once again knot the game, 51-51.
Clark took its first lead of the second half with 1:44 left to play, as Szklarz put back his own miss to put the visitors in front, 53-51. Babson then turned the ball over on its next two possessions, but first-year Kyle MacDonald (Wethersfield, Conn.) came up with a huge steal that gave the ball back to the Beavers with 20 seconds remaining. Senior guard CJ Enere (Hyde Park, Mass.) then hit a driving left-handed lay-up and drew a foul, and the resulting free throw put Babson back on top, 54-53, with 16.4 seconds on the clock. That would set up Miller’s heroics, as the senior center caught a pass from Dutille on the right block and converted a wide open lay-up with 2.7 seconds left, giving the Cougars a 55-54 advantage. Babson then inbounded the ball but could not get a shot off before the buzzer, as Clark escaped with the thrilling one-point victory.
Dutille and Landers each scored 15 points to lead Clark, while Dutille also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Szklarz chipped in with 13 points and seven boards for the Cougars, who used a 38-26 rebounding advantage to overcome 22 turnovers.
Babson was led by Enere, who became the 21st player in the program’s history to score 1,000 career points when he banked in a jump shot from the left elbow with 4:04 remaining in the first half. The senior guard finished with a team-high 13 points, giving him 1,006 as a Beaver. Including the 341 points he scored during his freshman season at Brandeis University, Enere now has 1,347 points in his collegiate career. Bush also hit double-figures with 11 points for Babson.