WPI 72, Babson 42

Box Score

Babson Park, MA --- Freshman forward Fernando Perez (Lowell, MA) led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lift men's basketball past Babson, 72-42, in its final NEWMAC test of the regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers are now 20-4 overall, 11-1 in the NEWMAC, while Babson drops to 12-13 and 4-8 in the conference. 

Having already secured the regular season title and top seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament, WPI will receive a bye in the first round and will host the semifinals and championship next weekend. Meanwhile, Babson will visit Wheaton in Wednesday night's opening round. The time of that game has yet to be determined.

With the win, WPI's senior class also set a new conference record for total victories and winning percentage in their career, as the Engineers have now posted a spectacular 42-6 mark (.875) in league play over the last four seasons. It also marks the sixth straight 20-win campaign for WPI, having already posted their sixth consecutive NEWMAC regular season title.

Perez had his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Senior point guard Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) tallied 10 points and four rebounds in the win and sophomore guard Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT) added 13 points for the visitors.

Saturday also marked the final regular season home game in the collegiate careers of Babson's four seniors.  Over the last four years, Pat Belniak (Sutton, MA), Norm de Silva (Dartmouth, MA), Zach Etten (Hollis, NH), and Tom Shevlin (South Hadley, MA) have led the Beavers to a total of 47 victories, including 16 wins and a second-place finish in the NEWMAC regular season standings in 2007. Etten, the older brother of WPI sophomore forward Ben Etten, led the Beavers with 10 points, five rebounds, and five steals in the last home game of his career, while sophomore Shelton Ladson (New York, NY) followed with nine points.

WPI took the early lead and went up by eight with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half, 12-4. Babson then went on a 8-0 run and subsequently tied the game 14-14 after a three pointer from Ladson with 6:25 left in the half. The Engineers were able to get the lead back and entered halftime with a four point advantage at 27-23.

WPI began the second half on a 19-3 run due to effective defense and some errant Babson shots, putting the visitors up by 20 points with just under 13 minutes to play. The Beavers came back to score six unanswered points to cut the lead to 14 at 46-32. The Engineers answered back however, holding Babson to just 10 points in the final 10 minutes while scoring 26 of their own to end the game with a 72-42 victory.

Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information