BABSON PARK, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team fell at host Babson College this afternoon, 104-65, in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Staake Gymnasium in Babson Park, Mass. The Lyons fall to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in NEWMAC play, while the Beavers win their fifth in their last six games to improve to 10-5 and 3-1.

Babson shot at least 57% in each half and finished the game with a 61.2% (41-67) clip from the floor, including 57.1% (16-28) from three-point range. The home team owned a 43-33 rebounding advantage and dished out 28 assists. Wheaton shot 37.9 (25-66) from the field, including 5-19 (26.3%) from three-point territory. 

First year forward Tarmo Tari (Chelmsford, Mass.) came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points for the Lyons on 4-8 from the floor, including 2-3 from long distance and added five rebounds and an assist in 15 minutes of action. Classmate Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished for three assists and blocked a pair of shots, while junior forward Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points, two rebounds and a pair of steals. 

Graduate student forward Spencer Cline (Mason, Ohio) made all 11 field goal attempts for the Beavers, including six three-pointers to finish with a game-high 30 points in 29 minutes off the bench in addition to eight rebounds. Senior forward Colin Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) recorded his team-leading fourth double-double with 18 points and 14 boards, while sophomore Kieran Dorney (Garden City, Mass.) chipped in with 15 points.  

Babson never trailed in the game and owned a 16-5 advantage at the 15:12 mark of the first half, led by 10 points from Bradanese. Wheaton first year guard Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) knocked down a three-pointer to pull the visitors to within 23-12 at 12:10, but the Beavers scored the next eight points, including the last six from Cline, to take a 31-12 lead with 10:02 to go in the opening half.

First year forward Duncan Bubar (Newton, Mass. ) interrupted the run for the Lyons with a lay-up, but Cline picked up where he left off and scored the next 14 points of the game, including a trio of three-pointers to give him 20 consecutive points and Babson a 45-14 cushion with 7:26 showing in the first half. Wheaton scored the next seven points to close to within 45-21 with 5:12 remaining in the half. Cline later hit two more three-balls to give him 25 points for the half and increase the Beavers lead to 52-23 with two and a half minutes to go in the half, before taking a 56-28 lead into the intermission.

Senior guard James Welch (Needham, Mass.) canned a trifecta for Babson to give it an 81-45 margin with 8:24 to go in the game, before the Lyons put together an 18-5 stretch, fueled by eight points from Tari, to pull the visitors to within 86-63 with 4:20 to play. The Beavers responded by closing out the contest with an 18-2 run. 

The Lyons return to action on Monday, January 17 when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Clark University in a NEWMAC contest at 7:00 p.m., while the Beavers hosts Massachusetts Institute of Technology in conference action on January 19 7:00 p.m.