The two teams battled back and forth for the first six minutes before a 12-0 run by Clark gave the visitors a 21-13 advantage with nine minutes to play in the half. The Cougars eventually led by as many as nine with 3:45 remaining, but Babson would cut its deficit to just four by the break, 28-24. First-year Pat Belniak (Sutton, Mass.) led the Beavers with seven points in the opening stanza, while senior co-captain Tim Dutille (Sunapee, N.H.) netted eight first-half points for Clark.
Babson dominated play in the opening minutes of the second half, forcing eight turnovers during a 16-3 spurt that gave the home squad a 40-31 advantage with 13:15 left to play. The Beavers still led by five, 51-46, with seven minutes remaining when Clark senior co-captain Cory Szklarz (Worcester, Mass.) drained a three-pointer to spark a 9-0 Cougar run. Dutille and Szklarz each added two free throws during the stretch, and first-year Byron Roberts (New Haven, Conn.) converted a fast-break lay-up to give Clark a 55-51 lead with 4:24 to play.
Two more free throws by Dutille put Clark ahead, 61-55, with 2:09 left, but Babson answered with a 5-0 run to get back to within one. Junior Brandon Eigenberg (Milford, Conn.) started the spurt with a driving lay-up, and senior captain Brian Parsons (Queensbury, N.Y.) made it a three-point game with a jumper at the 1:30 mark. Sophomore Chris Bradley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) then hit one of two free-throws with 59 seconds remaining to pull Babson to within one, 61-60.
On its ensuing possession, Clark went to Szklarz, who drew a foul and sank both freebies to push his team’s lead back to three. Babson first-year Zach Etten (Hollis, N.H.) followed by hitting one of two at the stripe before Cougars’ sophomore Pat Landers (Worcester, Mass.) did the same, giving Clark a 64-61 advantage with 25 ticks left.
After calling its final time-out with 20.2 seconds on the clock, Babson went for the tie on a three-point attempt from the right corner by sophomore David Votta (Roswell, Ga.). The shot rimmed out, but Eigenberg corralled the offensive rebound and got it back outside to Votta, who launched again with a defender in his face. That shot also caromed out, but Votta followed and got his own board just outside the paint. The sophomore guard then attempted to draw a foul while hitting a desperation jumper, but the buzzer sounded to give Clark the 64-63 win.
Dutille hit four of seven from the field and 11 of 14 from the line for 19 points, while Szklarz added 16 points while connecting on six of seven from the stripe. The Cougars helped to overcome 29 turnovers by shooting 80.8 percent from the foul line, converting 21 of 26 attempts as a team.
Babson was led by Parsons, who scored 14 points, and Belniak, who finished with 13. Etten chipped in with eight points and eight boards for the Beavers, who managed just a 48.1 percent (11-24) clip from the free throw line.