Babson Park, MA --- Junior Nathan Bledsoe (San Antonio, TX) scored a game-high 19 points and graduate student Nicholas Margetson (Baldwin, NY) hit the go-ahead free throw with 59 seconds remaining as No. 22 WPI defeated Babson, 65-60, Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium in the NEWMAC men's basketball conference opener for both squads.
 
WPI improves to 6-1 on the year and 1-0 in the NEWMAC with its second consecutive victory while Babson dips to 6-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play with the loss.
 
Bledsoe knocked down four three-pointers and finished 6-of-10 from the floor to go along with six rebounds, while Justin Molen (Newark, DE) scored 12 of his 18 points in the second and tied for team-high honors with seven boards to pace the Engineers.  Margetson joined Molen with seven rebounds and, Tao Schreiber (Pompano Beach, FL) doled out a game-best four assists off the bench for the Crimson and Gray.
 
Junior Marc Begin II (Carlsbad, CA) scored 13 points to go along with three rebounds and sophomore Timmy Mulvey (Reading, MA) finished with 13 points, four boards, three assists and two steals to lead the Beavers. First-year Thomas Ferdinando (Andover, MA) added nine points and senior Timmy O'Toole (Milton, MA) produced eight points, a game-high 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the loss.
 
The Green and White led by as many as five in the second half and was up 50-47 following a free throw by Begin II with 9:34 left before WPI went on an 11-2 run that included four points by Molen and back-to-back buckets by graduate student Tim Reidy (Needham, MA) and senior J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) to build a 58-52 advantage, its largest of the game, with 4:06 remaining. Begin II scored four of the Beavers' next six points and senior Tyler Lauder (Malvern, PA) canned a pair of free throws with 1:22 to play to tie the game at 60 before Margetson broke the deadlock by going 1-of-2 at the charity stripe on the ensuing possession.
 
Newman went 2-of-2 at the free throw line with 22 seconds left after Ferdinando was unable to connect on a pair of mid-range jumpers, and Reidy sealed the win with two more free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining after Begin II's potential game-tying three-pointer from the right corner went in-and-out.
 
Babson jumped out to a quick 9-2 advantage and was up 16-11 after a three-pointer by Mulvey at the 11:44 mark of the first half. The Engineers scored the next five points before the hosts went on 12-5 run that included a pair of three-pointers by Ferdinando to match their largest lead of the game at 28-21 with 4:12 to go in the opening stanza.
 
WPI cut its deficit to just three at the break and took its first lead since the 13:08 mark of the first half at 43-42 on a layup by Molen with 13:05 remaining in the contest. First-year Robby Fiore (Acton, MA) scored five of the next seven points to help the Green and White go back in front 49-45 with 10:22 left.
 
The Beavers shot a season-low 32.8 percent from the field and finished just 5-of-25 (20 percent) from three-point range, which included going 0-of-13 in the second half. The Engineers, who held a 37-34 edge on the glass, shot 45.1 percent in the victory.
 
Both teams are back in action on Saturday as Babson travels to No. 1 Trinity at 2pm, while WPI visits cross-town rival Clark in a rematch of last year's NEWMAC Tournament championship game at 1pm.
 
Majority of Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information