Worcester, Mass. – Babson College got an extremely efficient 25 points from All-America Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) and the visiting Beavers used a hot-shooting second half to pull away from Clark University, 72-50, in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Tuesday evening at the Kneller Athletic Center.

The Green and White have now won six of their last seven games to improve to 12-5 overall but more importantly move to 6-1 in conference contests - a half game ahead of idle MIT.

For the Cougars, meanwhile, they have now dropped four straight league games after opening conference play at 2-1 and presently sit at 5-13 overall and 2-5 in conference games.

The game started off pretty even and after Luca McCormick (Bradenton, Fla.) drilled a three-pointer to answer a Nick Comenale (New York Mills, N.Y.) steal and two-handed dunk, the game was knotted at 23-23 with 7:45 left in the first half.

From that point on, the Beavers got hot, running off seven straight to take a 30-23 lead highlighted by layups from Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) and Charlie Rice (Barnstable, Mass.) and even when the Scarlet and White did score on a Lamar Berk (Saint Augustine, Fla.) three-pointer, Nelsen and Flannery scored inside and Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) hit two free throws to send Babson into intermission ahead 36-28.

The Beavers put the game away with a blistering start to the second half, going on a 19-4 run over the first eight minutes to open up a 55-33 lead. Comenale was huge during the spurt, hitting a pair of triples, while Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) and Flannery added shots from behind the arc as well.

Clark finally stemmed the tide with a layup from Evan Lerner (Hopedale, Mass.) and a three from McCormick but Rice found Flannery on consecutive trips for easy layups to push the lead to its peak at 26 (64-38) effectively ending the contest with 7:07 left to play as both teams began to empty their respective benches.

Babson controlled the interior, outscoring the Cougars 28-18 in the paint and had a 39-30 edge on the glass. They also used the Scarlet and White's turnovers against them, turning their 13 miscues into 18 points.

Clark had a tough night shooting from the floor, connecting on just 31 percent of their attempts, while the Beavers shot 52 percent for the contest, including 14-for-24 (58 percent) in the final 20 minutes.

Flannery did his damage, while shooting 10-for-14 from the field, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc in 28 minutes. Comenale added 14 points for the Beavers who also got 11 points and eight rebounds from Nelsen. Matthew Droney (Canton, Mass.) finished with two points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.

Clark was led by McCormick's 11 points and five rebounds off the bench, while David Mercier (Milford, Mass.) chipped in with nine points, three rebounds and three blocks and both Berk and John Pisacreta (Andover, Mass.) totaled seven points each.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday with conference contests. Babson visits Emerson, while Clark hosts MIT. Tip times for both games is 1:00 p.m.