BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass.) poured in 27 points and classmate Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) added career highs of 22 points and eight rebounds as 10th-ranked Babson College cruised past visiting Anna Maria College, 97-67, in the championship game of the Babson Invitational Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Staake Gymnasium.
Flannery, who was selected as the Tournament Most Outstanding Player, finished 9-of-18 from the floor, while Nelsen went 9-of-13 on the day to earn all-tournament honors. SophomoreBradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md.) added a career-best 15 points to go along with nine boards, and junior Matthew Droney (Canton, Mass.) chipped in with eight points, a career-high seven assists and three rebounds for the Beavers.
Senior Pat Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.), who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists to lead the Amcats. Classmate Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) added 14 points and three boards, while junior David Jean-Louis (Miramar, Fla.) and senior Pedro Trindade (Billerica, Mass.) finished with nine points apiece.
The Green and White led just 31-28 late in the first half before closing the stanza with a 13-2 run to build a 14-point lead at the break. Flannery ripped off seven straight points, and Nelsen and Jacks contributed three points apiece to make it 44-30 going into the locker room.
The Beavers pushed its lead to 21 twice early in the second half before Anna Maria used a 10-4 run to pull within 61-47 on a pair of free throws by first-year LK Metz (West Yarmouth, Mass.) with 11:28 to play. Babson wasted little time responding though, as a hoop by Droney and a three-pointer by junior Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass.) ignited a 13-2 spurt that gave the hosts a 74-49 advantage with just under nine minutes to play.
The Green and White shot 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the floor and outscored the Amcats 48-18 in the paint. The Beavers also finished with a 42-37 edge on the glass.
Anna Maria shot just 31.4 percent (22-for-70) from the floor, and were held to just 27.8 percent after halftime.
Babson returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to Lasell at 7 p.m., while the Amcats host Becker in their home opener on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 5-1 all-time against Anna Maria with four of the victories coming in the Babson Invitational Tournament championship game.
• Babson has won 14 straight at home and is 31-4 at Staake Gymnasium going back to the start of the 2014-15 season.
• The Green and White has now won 18 Babson Invitational titles, including five of the last six going back to 2008.