Recap and photo courtesy of Babson Athletic Communications. 

Beavers Claim First NEWMAC Title Since 2016, Punch Ticket to Third Straight NCAA Tournament 

WORCESTER, Mass.—Sophomore Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the first half and senior Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, Mass.) contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists to help third-seeded Babson College defeat top-seeded and 21st-ranked WPI, 59-53, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final on Saturday afternoon inside Harrington Auditorium.

Winners of 11 of its last 12 games, Babson claimed the program's sixth conference tournament championship while improving to 19-8. The Beavers also secured their third straight NCAA Tournament berth. WPI (22-4), which is second in the NCAA Region II rankings, must wait until Monday to find out if it secures an at-large bid to the tournament.

Senior Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds, while first-year Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) pulled down a game-high 11 boards to go along with five points for the Beavers.

Sophomore Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) scored 13 points, junior John Adams (Douglas, Mass.) added 12 points, nine boards and three steals, and Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, Calif.) chilled in with 11 points to lead the Engineers. JR Newman (Havertown, Pa.) came off the bench to finish with nine points and a game-high four steals in the loss.

Gao, Amado and graduate student Ryan Cibull (Alameda, Calif.) all drained three-pointers over the first four minutes and Kirkpatrick followed another triple by Amado with a pull-up jumper to give the Green and White a 16-6 lead with 12:16 to go in the opening half. Six points by Adams helped WPI close within 21-17 at the 5:01 mark but the Beavers responded with a 10-4 spurt that included two more trifectas by Amado to take their largest lead of the game at 31-19 with 44 seconds to go until halftime.

Sevilla banked in a layup in the closing seconds of the first half and the Engineers outscored Babson 13-2 over the first seven-plus minutes of the second to take their first lead of the game at 34-33 on a free throw by Sevilla with 12:50 to play. Newman made it 37-35 with a three-point play but Amado responded with his fifth triple on the ensuing possession to put the Beavers back in front for good with 10:48 to go.

WPI was within two on a bucket by Callahan with 7:56 remaining but Gao drilled back-to-back three-pointers to stretch the margin back to 49-43 just over a minute later. The Green and White was up eight after a Kirkpatrick bucket at the 4:27 mark but the Engineers hit three free throws and got a trifecta from Sevilla to close back within 53-51 with 3:18 to play but Cibull scored going to the hoop two possessions later to make it four-point game with 1:54 to go.

Callahan again got the hosts within two on their next trip but missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining and Newman was unable to convert a driving layup following a steal seconds later. Kirkpatrick and first-year Tyler Lauder (Malvern, Pa.) both went 2-of-2 at the free throw line over the final 22 seconds to secure the win.

The Beavers shot 42.9 percent for the game and went 11-of-23 from beyond the arc in addition to finishing with a 37-28 edge on the glass. The Engineers shot just 37.5 percent and struggled at the free throw line going just 15-of-27 (55.6 percent).

Babson will find out who it will play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Monday at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 50-38 all-time and 5-5 in the conference playoffs against WPI, and Saturday's victory snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.
• Saturday's championship game was the first played between Babson and WPI since 1993 when both were members of the Constitution Athletic Conference (CAC).
• The Beavers are 12-3 on the road against NEWMAC foes over the last two seasons and improve to 13-1 this winter when holding their opponent below 64 points.
• Saturday's victory was the first in postseason history for Babson at Harrington Auditorium.