Bowdoin held the lead for the first 15 minutes of play, going up by as many as seven at 17-10 when junior John Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) drained a three-pointer with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Babson would eventually take its first lead on a lay-up by Bush with 4:45 left, and the sophomore forward added six more points in the final three minutes as the Beavers took a 31-24 lead into the break.
Bush continued to pour on the offense with 11 more points in the second half, including six straight that pushed Babson’s advantage to 12 at 53-41 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Sophomore Chris Bradley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) later scored on a put-back to give the Beavers their largest lead of the game at 59-45.
After Bowdoin senior Kyle Petrie (Iowa City, Iowa) sank two free throws to cut Babson’s lead back to 12, Bush hit a pair of his own to push the advantage back to 14, 61-47, with six minutes left. However, the Polar Bears chipped away at the lead and eventually got to within seven twice, including once on a lay-up by Petrie with two minutes on the clock that made it 64-57. Bush then answered with a conventional three-point play that sparked a 7-0 Babson run, as the Beavers ran away with the 71-57 victory.
Bush finished with 23 points and three steals, while sophomore Dave Votta (Roswell, Ga.) added 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Senior captain Brian Parsons (Queensbury, N.Y.) made a successful return to the court after missing all of last season with a leg injury, scoring 11 points and grabbing four boards in 22 minutes. Bowdoin was led by Petrie, who scored a team-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and a 7-of-7 clip from the line, and junior Jac Arbour (Augusta, Maine), who added a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
In Friday night’s second semifinal matchup, Williams sophomore Chris Rose (Middletown, N.Y.) scored 20 of his game-high 31 points in the second half to help the Ephs defeat Whittier, 84-60. After taking a 34-32 lead at the break, Whittier (0-1) still led by two at 46-44 with 14:30 left in the second. However, Williams (1-0) exploded for a 21-4 run over the next six and a half minutes, including 12 points by Rose, to build a 65-50 advantage. Whittier eventually got back to within eight at 65-57 with 7:10 left, but the Ephs drained three of their 15 three-pointers over the next two minutes to cruise to the 24-point win.
Rose finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds, hitting 12 of 21 from the field, including his first eight attempts of the second half. Seniors Casey Gibbons (Weston, Mass.) and Andrew Newton (Whitinsville, Mass.) added 13 points apiece in the win, with Gibbons also contributing eight assists. Sophomore Raphael Farlough (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored 16 points to lead Whittier, while junior Anthony Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) chipped in with 12 points.