Springfield, Mass. – December 31, 2025 – The Springfield College men's basketball team opened play at the 2025-26 Fairfield Inn & Suites Enfield Naismith Classic against Colby College on Wednesday afternoon as the Pride fell to the Mules by a 81-67 final.

Springfield, now 3-6 on the year, will take on Connecticut College tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 pm to wrap up play in this year's Naismith Classic, while Colby, which improved to 8-1 this season, will play Oneonta in the first game of the New Year at 12:00 pm from Blake Arena. Colby entered the game receiving votes in this week's D3hoops.com National Poll. 

Dan Civello led Colby as he produced 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting from the floor to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. Max Poulton chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds and Sam Hinman added 11 points and six boards. Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) guided Springfield with 17 points and six rebounds, while Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) notched eight points, five steals, two assists and four rebounds and Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) chipped in with 13 points and two rebounds for the Pride.

After trading buckets to start the game, a layup by Civello ignited a string of 15 straight points for Colby as the Mules led 18-5 less than seven minutes into the contest. A layup by Hartley cut the run, but over the next ten minutes, Colby extended its lead to as many as 28 as this time the Mules outscored the Pride by a 19-6 margin. Livingston and the Pride scored seven of the final ten points of the half as Cedric Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) and Livingston both tallied shots from behind the arc despite Colby holding a 42-19 lead at the break.

Springfield continued its momentum in the second scoring 13 of the first 15 points of the half ultimately cutting its deficit to just nine points  at 44-35 with less than 15 minutes to play. Over the stretch, Evely registered back-to-back treys before Rodriguez took the ball down the court finishing a layup off a steal by Hartley. That is as close as Springfield was able to get as Colby back up to 17 at 57-40 following a bucket in transition from Poulton. The teams traded baskets over the final minutes of the game with Colby coming away with the 81-67 win in the opening game of the Naismith Classic.

In its third appearance at the Naismith Classic, Colby is now 2-3 overall, while in its 36th tournament in Blake Arena, Springfield fell to 42-29.

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