WPI never trailed in the contest but withstood a furious Babson rally at the end of the game. Brandon Eigenberg (Milford, CT) drained a pair of long range three-pointers and two free throws for the Beavers to slice a 64-53 WPI advantage with just over two minutes remaining to just three points with 1:02 left. The Engineers regrouped as Flynn and Ryan Cain (Webster, MA) canned eight free throws in the final minute to preserve the victory.
WPI opened the game with a 7-0 run, then came of the locker room and rattled off 10 of the first 13 points of the second half. Sophomore Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA) added nine points and a team-best six rebounds for the Engineers while classmate Ryan Bourque (Nashua, MA) also registered nine points.
Eigenburg paced all scorers with 19 points off the bench for the Beavers. He connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field, including all three of his three-point attempts. As a team, Babson shot a sizzling 60% (15-of-25) from the floor in the second half. Zach Etten (Hollis, NH) and Pat Belniack (Sutton, MA) each chipped in with 13 points for the Beavers while Etten corralled a game-best nine rebounds.
Both squads will return to action on Tuesday at 7pm. WPI kicks off a three-game road trip by traveling to UMass-Boston for a non-conference tilt while Babson plays hosts to NEWMAC foe Wheaton.
Newspaper Box Score Babson vs WPI 1/28/06 2:00pm at Worcester, MA At Worcester, MA WPI 72, BABSON 68 BABSON (7-12, 1-5) Eigenberg, Brandon 7-9 2-2 19; Etten, Zach 5-12 2-3 13; Belniak, Pat 4-7 5-10 13; Bush, Greg 2-4 3-5 7; Votta, David 2-5 1-1 6; Parsons, Brian 3-4 0-0 6; McDonald, Kyle 1-2 0-0 2; Bradley, Chris 0-3 2-2 2; Bilodeau, Chris 0-1 0-0 0; de Silva, Norm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 15-23 68. WPI (17-1, 7-1) Ryan Flynn 4-9 7-9 17; Brian Steele 5-8 4-4 15; Ryan Bourque 2-3 5-6 9; Antoine Coleman 3-7 0-0 9; Ryan Cain 2-6 2-2 8; James Marois 3-7 1-2 7; Brett Dickson 2-4 1-2 5; Steve Furber 1-2 0-0 2; Adam Lirette 0-0 0-0 0; Sean Ivey 0-1 0-0 0; Mike Prestileo 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 22-50 20-26 72. Babson........................ 26 42 - 68 WPI........................... 29 43 - 72 3-point goals-Babson 5-8 (Eigenberg, Brandon 3-3; Votta, David 1-2; Etten, Zach 1-3), WPI 8-16 (Antoine Coleman 3-4; Ryan Flynn 2-5; Ryan Cain 2-2; Brian Steele 1-1; Brett Dickson 0-2; James Marois 0-2). Fouled out--Babson-Bush, Greg, WPI-None. Rebounds-Babson 29 (Etten, Zach 9), WPI 28 (Antoine Coleman 6). Assists-Babson 9 (McDonald, Kyle 2; de Silva, Norm 2; Votta, David 2), WPI 11 (Ryan Flynn 3). Total fouls-Babson 22, WPI 19. A-450