Springfield, Mass. - January 10, 2015 - Despite a gritty team effort, the Springfield College men's basketball team was edged by 15th-ranked Babson College, 59-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action in Blake Arena on Saturday.

Babson, ranked 15th in the country in the latest D3Hoops.com National Poll, has now won its last 11 games to improve to 12-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.  Springfield suffered its second-straight setback to a nationally-ranked foe and is now 8-5, 0-2 in league play.

Senior guard Nick Sienkiewicz (Cranston, R.I.) paced the Pride with 16 points, while Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) contributed all over the court with 11 points, eight steals, six assists, and five rebounds. Junior Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) scored 11 points off the bench while classmate Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) produced seven points, five steals and five boards.

For Babson, John Wickey (Manchester, N.H.) led all scorers with 17 points to go along with eight boards and Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H.) notched a double double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.  David Mack (Holden, Mass.) totaled 13 points and nine caroms and Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) added 11 points.

Babson shot 19-for-41 from the field (46.3%) and benefited from a great first half shooting the ball as they shot 60 percent from the floor (12-for-20).  The Beavers controlled the glass all afternoon and owned a 41-22 edge, and outscored the Pride in the paint, 30-20.  

Springfield forced Babson to commit a season-high 25 turnovers, which resulted in 17 points for the Pride.  Springfield shot just 19-for-58 (32.8%) for the game, including just 4-for-20 from downtown.

After forcing five turnovers in the opening minutes of the game, the Pride jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage after a lay in by Piretra.  Springfield's offense continued to dictate the early pace of play and the hosts lead ballooned to 27-15 on a tough inside finish by Brandon Eckles (East Greenwich, R.I.) with 10:17 on the clock. 

The Beavers clamped down on defense held Springfield off the scoredboard for the next 6:19, scoring 10 unanswered points of their to close within two on a bucket from Mack.

A three-point play from Downes eventually broke the Pride's drought with 3:54 left in the half to make it a 30-25 game, only to have Babson answer with a 8-2 surge, using a pair of freebies from Dean to take their first lead of the game, 33-32, with 1:48 on the clock. 

After two Martin free throws with in the final seconds of the stanza, the teams went to the locker room knotted at 34 apiece. 

Springfield took a 45-43 led 5:19 into the second half after Downes converted in the lane, but Dean and Wickey connected on consecutive three pointers to fuel a 12-1 run over the next 4:51 to put the visitors ahead 55-46 lead.

The Pride chipped away at the Babson nine-point cushion and eventually made it a one-possession game at 57-54 after two free throws by Downes with 2:54 on the clock. 

Springfield played tough defense, coming up with two huge stops that resulted in a pair of great looks from beyond-the-arc that didn't fall.  A Martin layup with eight seconds left cut the lead to one, but Dean calmly sank a pair from the line to push the lead back to three.  Martin raced up the court for one final effort and got a clean look from 25 feet that rimmed out.

Springfield will hit the road for its next game as it heads to Wheaton for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Jan. 14.