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Salem

About the 2002 Division III
men's basketball tournament

Babson 63, Union 50
WELLESLEY, Mass. — Babson limited visiting Union to just 19 second-half points on its way to a 63-50 win in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament on Saturday night. The Beavers (25-4) now advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history, and will face Rochester next Friday night.

Union (21-8) was red hot in the early going, nailing three shots from long range, including two by junior Adam Polansky, in the first five minutes to take a 15-9 advantage. The Dutchmen still held the lead, 23-21, with 6:35 left in the half, but Babson went on a 7-0 run that was highlighted by a huge 3-pointer from junior tri-captain Chris Michalowski to take its first lead of the game. The Beavers would go up by as many as six on sophomore Jeff Hines' trifecta with 2:16 remaining, but Union managed to close the gap to 33-31 just before the break.

The contest remained close through the first 11 minutes of the second half, as the two teams battled back and forth. Union would take its only lead of the second session on a pair of free throws by senior C.J. Rodgers with 9:09 on the clock, but Babson responded with a 15-0 burst that put the game away.

Michalowski kicked off the run with five straight points, including his second 3-pointer of the game off a dish from Hines with 6:40 left. Neither team scored for the next two minutes until Hines sank two of three free throws with 4:33 remaining after he was fouled on a shot attempt from beyond the arc.

With his team leading, 52-47, Babson first-year Jeff Nicholson took over with four minutes left. The rookie forward pulled down a huge defensive rebound off a Union miss, and then sank a short jumper in the lane to push the Beavers' advantage to seven. He then proceeded to grab Babson's next two boards off the defensive glass before hitting a layup that made it 56-47 with 2:25 on the clock. Junior tri-captain Joe Colelli sank four straight free throws to cap off the 15-0 run, giving Babson a 60-47 lead.

Union senior Aaron Galletta drained a 3-pointer with 40.5 seconds left to cut the Dutchmen's deficit back to 10, but Hines hit one free throw and Colelli sank two more in the final 40 seconds to seal the 63-50 win.

Hines led all players with 19 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Michalowski added 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while sophomore Luke Weber chipped in with nine points and five boards. Nicholson finished up with eight points and nine rebounds, including four consecutive caroms in the final four minutes of play.

Rodgers and Galletta both finished with 14 points to lead Union, while Rodgers also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out four assists. Junior Philip Henry added nine points and three assists in defeat.

For Babson, Saturday's win was the first NCAA Tournament victory in four attempts for the men's basketball program. The Beavers will now travel to Brockport State for a Sweet 16 matchup with Rochester, which defeated Williams 66-51 in the second round.

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