Worcester, Mass. – Babson College (14-12) held host Clark University to just 27 percent shooting and the visiting Beavers continued an upset trend in the NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal round with a convincing 52-34 win over the fourth-seeded Cougars on Wednesday evening.

Babson's road victory marked the third time in the last four years that the tournament's fifth-seed knocked off their higher-seeded opponent in the opening round - a stretch ironically started by Clark back in the 2010 quarterfinal round.

The Beavers will now face the tournament's top seed, WPI on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Cougars, meanwhile, see their season come to an end with four straight losses to wrap up the year at 12-14.

The Scarlet and White struggled shooting the ball the entire contest, opening the game connecting on just one of their first 12 attempts from the field. That being said, after a Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, Mass.) inside hoop with a little more than seven minutes to play in the half, Babson only held a 13-11 lead.

Clark, however, would only make one more field goal the rest of the half and the Beavers went on a period-ending 12-3 run highlighted by a Travis Sheldon (Woodstock, N.Y.) three-pointer.

After scoring two of the first three baskets to begin the second stanza, the Cougars went cold again, this time going more than five minutes without a hoop. Babson took advantage, scoring seven straight points – all on the back of John Wickey (Manchester, N.H.), who muscled inside for a pair of hoops and then dropped in a three pointer that made the score 34-18 with less than 15 minutes left to play.

Clark got as close as 12 at 39-27 when Vayda found Jonathan Phillips (Shrewsbury, Mass.) for an easy inside bucket, but the Beavers clamped down again and didn't allow the Cougars to score for more than five minutes again. When the dust cleared, Babson had gone a game-sealing 13-0 run that featured three straight strong inside baskets from David Mack (Holden, Mass.) and put the Beavers into the conference semifinals for the second consecutive season.

The 34 points scored for Clark marks the first time since 2004 that they have failed to reach the 40-point mark in a game.

Babson held a slight 37-34 edge on the glass and a 30-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Wickey led all scorers with 13 points (6-for-12 field goals) and seven rebounds, while Sheldon added 10 points in 22 minutes. Mack was a key factor off the bench, finishing with eight points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes of action.

No player for Clark reached double figures, but D.J. Bailey (Palmer, Mass.) totaled nine points and Vayda ended with seven points and nine boards.

For Vayda his career comes to an end after having played (112) and started (111) in more games than anyone in school history. His name is splattered all over the program's record book, ranking fourth in points (1,744), third in rebounds (861), third in steals (183), ninth in free throw percentage (76.8), sixth in three-point percentage (38.8) and ninth in assists (227).