NORTON, Mass. – The Babson College men's basketball team knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the final minute of play to give the Beavers a 61-55 victory over host Wheaton College (Mass.) this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. 

The Lyons fall to 10-9 overall and 5-4 in league play, while Babson wins its fifth straight to improve to 13-7 and 6-3.

It was a tale of two halves with the Beavers shooting just 37.0% (10-27) for the first half, before hitting on 53.3% (16-30) of their tries in the second stanza. Wheaton owned a 47.6% (10-21) mark from the field in the opening half, but was held to just 28.1% (9-32) in the second half and made just one of its last seven field goal attempts to finish the contest. Babson shot 45.6% (26-57) for the game, while the Lyons posted a 35.8% (19-53) mark. Wheaton committed 21 turnovers and the Beavers owned a 19-12 margin in points off turnovers.

Senior forward Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) was limited due to foul trouble, but still managed to net 16 points, grab six boards and come up with a pair of steals for the Lyons. Senior guard Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) scored 13 points, including a perfect 6-6 from the line, and added seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Senior guard Evan Cook (Dunstable, Mass.) chipped in with seven points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Sophomore guard Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) and first year guard Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) each hit a trifecta in the final 60 seconds of the game for Babson. Amado registered his third double-double of the season for the Beavers with a game-high 17 points and 13 rebounds to go with two assists, a steal and a pair of blocks, while graduate student guard Ryan Cibull (Alameda, Calif.) finished with 16 points on 7-10 from the floor in addition to three assists, a block and a game-high four steals. O'Toole contributed with nine points, three rebounds and four steals.

Williams sank a pair of three throws for Wheaton to knot the game for the third time in the final six and a half minutes at 55-55 with 73 seconds to play in the game. Amado gave Babson the lead for good at 58-55 with a straight-away three-pointer from two feet beyond the three-point arc with a minute to play. O'Toole sealed the victory with a triple from the left corner to increase the Beavers' margin to 61-55 with 16 ticks left in the game.

Amado converted one of two free throws 37 seconds into the contest for the first point of the game. It was the visitors' only lead of the first half. 

The Lyons put together a 9-2 run, fueled by five points from Cook, to take a 9-3 advantage at the 14:13 mark of the half. Amado scored the next five points to pull Babson to within 11-8 with 13:20 showing on the first half clock. 

Wheaton ripped off eight unanswered points capped by a three-ball from sophomore guard Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) to give the home team its biggest lead of the night at 19-8 with 10:10 remaining in the period. The Beavers scored six of the next seven points, including four from Amado to cut the deficit to 20-14 with 7:38 left in the half. 

The Lyons bumped their cushion back to double-digits at 30-20 following a jumper outside the paint from sophomore forward Duncan Bubar (Newton, Mass.) with 93 seconds left in the half. Carlisle sank a pair of free throws with 22 ticks left in the period to give Wheaton a 32-25 lead heading into the break.

First year guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) made a layup at the 16:37 mark of the second session to give the Lyons a 38-30 lead, before Amado capped a six-point response from Babson to cut the margin to 38-36 with 14:55 to play in the game.

Senior guard Marckenley Lima (Roslindale, Mass.) stuck a trifecta from 26 feet away to increase Wheaton's lead to 43-36 with 11:17 remaining in the half, but senior guard Andrew Kirkpatrick (Winnetka, Ill.) drilled a jumper from outside the paint to cap a 12-5 run and pull the Beavers even at 48-48 with 6:36 to go in the game.

Carlisle reclaimed the lead for the Lyons with a three-pointer from the right corner, despite the Babson defense draped all over him with 5:07 left in the half. 

Babson made just five three-pointers for the game, but three of them came in the final three minutes of play, including a trey from senior guard Aaron Gao (Bridgewater, N.J.) to give the visitors a 53-51 lead at 2:55. The Beavers never trailed again after the big shot from Gao. Wheaton tied the game twice in the next 105 seconds, before Babson put the game away with the final two threes of the evening.

Wheaton travels to Springfield, Mass. to play conference rival Springfield College at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, while the Beavers return to action on the same day when they head to Worcester, Mass. to play NEWMAC foe Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 3:00 p.m.