Babson Park, Mass. – February 3, 2024 – The Springfield College men's basketball team fell to Babson College by a 67-44 final in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon in Staake Gymnasium.

Babson moved to 11-11 overall and to 7-6 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield dropped to 7-14, 4-8 this year. Springfield split this year's season series with the Beavers after defeating Babson at home 90-54 back on January 9.

Junior Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) led Springfield with 13 points and seven rebounds on the day, while both sophomore Zander Robinson (East Hartford, Conn.) and first-year Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) chipped in with seven points apiece. Babson had three student-athletes score in double figures guided by Steph Baxter, who had 19 points, as well as Timmy O'Toole, who registered a 13 point, 11 rebound double-double.

Springfield scored nine of the first ten points of the game over the opening 6:38 of the contest. After Tyler Lauder knocked down one of two free throws for the Beavers in the first minute, the Pride held Babson without a field goal until there was 11:35 remaining on the clock. The game opening run for the Pride featured five points from Blische and two points from both Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Robinson.

With 9:03 left in the first half, a layup from Robinson gave Springfield an 11-5 edge before Babson outscored the Pride 17-3 over the final 8:05 of the stanza. A trey by Mark Woodhouse began the run and three Beavers found the basket for the hosts as the score stood at 22-14 at the break. Both teams shot under 30-percent from the floor in the first half.

Babson continued its pressure in the second as the Beavers opened the half with an 11-4 run over the first 4:46 to build the score to 33-18 in favor of the hosts. A layup from Blische ended the run and a trey by Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) cut Springfield's deficit to 12 at 35-23, but Babson answered with nine of the next 11 points to push the lead up to 19 at 44-25. The 12 point deficit was as close as Springfield got as Babson went on to win by the 67-44 final this afternoon.

Springfield will return to the court on Wednesday, February 7 with a road contest at the Coast Guard Academy beginning at 7:00 pm.

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