Clark Coasts Early, Hangs on Late to Beat Babson

By Max Bogaert

Wellesley Ma- The Clark University men’s basketball team exploded to a twenty point lead early in the second half then held off a furious Beaver rally for a 59-55 win at Staake Gymnasium. Clark’s active defense aided by a poor shooting performance from Babson, who shot only 38% in the first, allowed them to lead from tip-off to the half. The Cougars shot fifty percent from deep in the first half, hitting seven of fourteen from behind the arc of which Senior Pat Ochoa and Junior Byron Roberts each had two. Clark was playing without sophomore Chris LoPiano who was out with a broken leg. Coach Paul Phillips called LoPiano “a big part of the team and really, the only true point guard we have”. The Cougars made up for the loss by pushing the fast break and rapid substitution. Phillips also mentioned the efforts of graduate student Gunnar Hagstrom and Roberts as the guards who came off the bench, helping keep the energy up.

Controlling the boards and defensive hustle allowed Clark to push the lead to thirteen at the half. The Cougars forced six turnovers and out rebounded the Beavers, while also drawing three big charges. Early in the second half it was all Clark as they continued the 9-0 run to close the first half by ripping off another seven straight points, highlighted by an Ochoa three. Ochoa was huge on defense as well, holding Babson’s leading scorer Kyle McDonald to just ten points on 4-14 shooting. “He did an unbelievable job on him” said Phillips. Ochoa finished with nine points in thirty one minutes. With McDonald under wraps, Babson had to rely on another player to bring the Beavers all the way back. Junior Zach Etten was all over the court, grabbing three key rebounds after missed free throws. He finished with a team high fifteen points.

Babson went on a 10-0 run starting at the eight minute mark, holding the Cougars without a point for over five minutes. “I think when they went to that match up zone, we started to get a little tentative, then they started to score after they were just shooting terribly in the first half. We started to walk it up rather than really go at them” Said coach Phillips of the Babson come back. Overall, it was a 16-2 run that brought the Beavers back all the way with just under two minutes left. Babson also reversed the work on the boards, as they out rebounded the Cougars by nine in the second half, with senior Chris Bradley pulling down six of his eleven in the second half. It was Etten who truly dominated, shooting three of five from deep, including one to knot it up at fifty five with barely over a minute to go.

Mark Alexander hit two pressure free throws to put the Cougars up by two. Alexander struggled mightily from the field, shooting one for eleven on the day, but his work at the line ended up being the difference. With thirty-eight seconds to go, Etten went from hero to goat when he dragged his pivot foot on a jump stop in the lane for the travel and turned the ball back over to Clark. Landers hit one of two from the line and Babson missed two desperation three pointers to give Clark the four point win.

Landers and Junior Pete Normandin held down the low post throughout the game, until Normandin fouled out with nine minutes left. “Pat (Landers) and Pete Normandin did a great job for us today, even though they had about nine fouls between them” Philips said with a laugh. Babson falls to 6-12 overall with a 3-4 record in the New England Women and Men’s Athletic Conference. The Beavers will host Bowdoin College on February 6^th for a non-conference game before heading to Wheaton College on Saturday February 9th The Cougars currently stand at 10-9 overall, with a 5-2 record in conference. The Cougars, who sit alone in second place, host league leaders WPI on Wednesday. Should Clark win they’ll be tied for first place. The Engineers easily won the first contest, 93-74. Saturday the Cougars will gain play host, this time to Springfield College. Clark squeaked by the Pride in their first meeting, 66-64.