Babson Park, Mass. - March 1, 2015 - The Springfield College men's basketball team was defeated by Babson College, 72-62, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship on Sunday afternoon in Staake Gymnasium.

Springfield made its fourth-straight appearance in the NEWMAC Championship, becoming just the second program in conference history to make that many consecutive appearances in the men's basketball league title game.

The Pride, 19-8, awaits its postseason fate on the national selection show which will air Monday at 12:30 pm.  Springfield hopes to be awarded one of 19 at-large bids to the NCAA Championship for the third-straight year. Babson, which was ranked 5th in the nation in the last D3Hoops.com National Poll, improves to 25-2 on the year.

The Green and White shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field and were 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. The Beavers also held a 34-24 edge on the glass.

Springfield shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the floor, but were just 4-of-16 from deep. The Pride scored 14 points off turnovers and outscored the hosts 32-30 in the paint.

Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) scored a team-best 15 points on the day for the Pride, while Tim Swenson (Millbury, Mass.) added 10 points and both Brandon Eckles (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) added nine points apiece.

For Babson, standout sophomore Joey Flannery led the way with 30 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go along with six rebounds, while John Wickey and Eric Dean finished with 17 points apiece. The Beavers held a 34-24 edge in rebounds in the contest. 

The Beavers were tremendous on the offensive end of the floor to begin the game, knocking down 10 of their first 12 attempts from the field.  After Dean knocked down a jumper to give the hosts a 22-13 advantage, the Pride rattled off seven-straight points, capped off by a tough finish in traffic by Martin.  

Despite the Beavers hot shooting, Springfield continued to keep the hosts within reach, never falling behind by more than two scores.  A Downes three-point play with 2:29 in the half brought the Pride within 32-31, only to have the Beavers head into the break with a 35-32 lead.

Swenson and Eckles combined for 19 first-half points as the Pride shot 50% from the field (13-for-26).  All told, Wickey, Flannery, and Dean combined for all 35 of the Beavers first-half points.

Martin finished in the lane to make it a 42-39 game with 15:56 on the clock, but Babson used a 9-0 spurt over the next 3:51 to earn a 51-39 cushion.  Flannery was unstoppable in the run, scoring seven points, including a pair of conventional three-point plays.

Springfield made one final push at Babson, pouring on a 13-4 run over a 6:13 span to get within 56-52 following a Downes free throw.  However, the Beavers answered with a corner three from Bohmiller and never looked back as they went on to win the title.