WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (14-4, 3-4 NEWMAC) took Babson (13-5, 6-1 NEWMAC) to overtime, but fell 71-68 in a thrilling conference contest on Wednesday night from the Kneller Gymnasium.  

How it Happened

• Clark took an early 10-2 lead sparked by three points from first-year Isaiah Taylor and sophomore Mikey O'Brien and a pair of buckets from graduate student Tyler Davern and sophomore Bruce Saintilus before Babson pulled within two at 10-8 with 10:38 left in the first half.
• The Cougars then went on a 9-0 run led by seven points from O'Brien and a Taylor layup and a three from senior Joel Arteaga put Clark up 22-10 with 7:48 remaining in the first half.
• O'Brien, Saintilus, and sophomore Kyle Jackson each hit three-pointers to extend the lead to 33-23 and a Saintilus free throw before the break put Clark up 34-24.
• Babson scored the first eight points of the second half before Davern hit a three-pointer and O'Brien made a pair of layups to give the Cougars a 41-36 advantage with 11:28 to go.
• Jackson and graduate student Matthew Waggett each made layups before five points from Taylor, led by a three-pointer gave Clark a 50-42 lead with 6:46 remaining.
• After Babson tied the game at 52-52, a Saintilus free throw gave the Cougars the one-point lead and layups from Davern and senior Gralen Vereen extended the lead to 57-55 with 1:32 to go.
• Nate Amado tied the game at 57-57 with 1:08 remaining and Davern had a look from three at the buzzer that didn't fall as the contest went to overtime tied at 57-57.
• Babson started overtime with six of the first seven points, but Davern connected on a triple to pull Clark within two at 63-61 with 2:08 to go in the overtime period before the Beavers then scored five unanswered points to lead 68-61.
• O'Brien and Davern combined to make three free throws and a Taylor layup with 0:23 to go pulled Clark within two at 68-66 and after two made Babson free throws, Saintilus drew a foul and made a pair of free throws in what was now a 70-68 contest.
• Babson made a free throw with 0:06 remaining and missed the second, but Davern had a look at the hoop get blocked and the Beavers won 71-68.

Inside the Box Score

• O'Brien led the way with 18 points on 7-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.
• Taylor added 13 points, six rebounds, and three steals.
• Davern netted 13 points and grabbed four rebounds.
• Saintilus scored 12 points, recorded four steals, and pulled down five rebounds.
• Clark grabbed 38 rebounds, made nine threes, dished out 16 assists, and recorded 16 steals, while forcing 25 turnovers.

What's Next

The Cougars will play their second game of a three game homestand on Saturday afternoon when they welcome MIT to the Kneller beginning at 3:00 p.m.