Men's Basketball Edges Babson, 70-67; Finishes Third in NEWMAC Regular-Season Standings
Box Score/Play-by-PlaySPRINGFIELD, Mass. – February 17, 2007 – Damian Farley scored a career-high 27 points and added a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Springfield College men’s basketball team to a hard-fought 70-67 victory over Babson College in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference game this afternoon at SC’s Blake Arena.
With the win, Springfield climbs to 12-13 overall, and finishes 7-5 in NEWMAC regular-season play. Babson, meanwhile, falls to 16-9 overall, and finishes 9-3 in NEWMAC regular-season play. Babson will be seeded 2nd and Springfield 3rd as both teams will host a NEWMAC first-round post-season tournament game next Wednesday evening (Feb. 21). Babson will host 7th-seeded Coast Guard, while Springfield will host 6th-seeded Wheaton.
Earlier this season, Babson defeated Coast Guard twice, while Springfield has already beaten Wheaton twice. In other NEWMAC action, Clark and MIT (both 5-7 in NEWMAC play) will also play on Wednesday night. The site of that contest has yet to be determined as of this writing. The three Wednesday night winners will join #1-seed WPI in NEWMAC semifinal games at WPI next Saturday (Feb. 24) at times yet to be determined. The NEWMAC title game will also be played at WPI on Sunday (Feb. 25).
With today’s win, Springfield swept Babson, two games to none. On Wednesday, Jan. 24, SC defeated Babson on the road, 64-58, giving the Beavers their only home NEWMAC loss of the season.
Before today’s contest, two Springfield seniors, forward Damian Farley (Natick, Mass.) and point-guard Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, N.Y.), were honored during Senior Day. Both SC seniors really came through for the Pride.
There was little doubt that today’s game was the best of Farley’s career. He scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half, when SC built a 38-33 edge. The 21 points at halftime tied his career-high to that point (at Curry in 2005-06). Farley finished 13-of-16 from the field (.813) in his 34 minutes of action. He was 10-of-13 in the first half, 3-of-3 in the second.
Pizzo also had quite a first half with eight assists and two steals. He finished with five points (all from the free throw line in the latter stages of the game), nine assists, and two steals. Pizzo now has 519 career assists. He had set the school’s career assist mark when he recorded his 509th assist in a 71-69 victory at Wheaton last Saturday (Feb. 10).
Besides Farley, Springfield had two others score in double figures. They were freshman forward Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) with 13 points (including 9-of-10 from the free throw line) and junior guard Jamaal Gibbs (Norwalk, Conn.) with 10 points. Gibbs also had four assists.
For Babson, the leading scorer was sophomore guard Zach Etten (Hollis, N.H.) with 19 points. He also had a team-high six rebounds. Junior guard/forward Kyle McDonald (Wethersfield, Conn.) scored 14 points, and junior forward Chris Bradley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) tallied 10. Bradley also had five rebounds.
The high-water mark for Babson in this game came fairly early, at the 13:21 mark of the first half. When McDonald made a jumper, it was 14-8, Babson, at that point. When SC’s Gibbs made a four-point play with 4:42 left, SC took a 27-25 lead. The Pride then kept riding Farley’s outstanding work right through halftime.
SC’s high-water mark came with 11:16 left in the second half when freshman Ryan Blackmon (Stamford, Conn.) made a lay-up, giving the Pride a 52-42 lead. But over the next 6:20, Babson outscored Springfield, 13-2, to take a one-point lead on a jumper by McDonald with 4:56 to go.
Babson led by three, 59-56, with 3:40 left on two free throws by McDonald. But four straight points by Crean gave SC a 60-59 lead with 2:49 to go. Leading 62-61, SC then received a huge lift from junior center/forward Gregg Daly (Farmington, Conn.) who made a three-pointer with 1:38 left. Two more free throws by Pizzo gave SC a 67-61 advantage with 40 seconds remaining, and the lead looked fairly safe.
But two free throws by McDonald and a steal and lay-up by McDonald brought the Beavers back to 67-65 with 27 seconds left. Crean hit two free throws to give SC a 69-65 edge with 24 seconds to go. But a length of the floor lay-up by Etten with 17 seconds left gave Babson another chance to do some further damage. A trapping defense cornered Gibbs who stepped out of bounds with 12 seconds left and Babson had one last opportunity. But an Etten jumper hit the back of the rim with four ticks left and SC’s Pizzo leapt high for the rebound. Pizzo then hit one free throw with 1.4 seconds left to provide the final margin, 70-67.
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Head Coach Charlie Brock
Charlie Brock in 2008-09 will enter his 11th season as the head coach at Springfield College. Brock’s achievements as a coach are certainly impressive, as he has taken three schools to the NCAA Division III Tournament and has an overall, 28-year record of 379-350 for a winning percentage of .519. Read more.