The Polar Bears improved to 12- 5, while the Beavers dropped to 10-9.
In addition to his 13th double double of the season, Hanley also had six assists and four blocks in the victory. Ryan O’Connell added 14 points for the hosts, who prevailed despite a game-high 34 points, including eight 3- pointers, from Babson’s Matt Palazini. Russell Braithwaite also reached double figures for the Beavers, scoring 14 points with seven rebounds.
Bowdoin came out firing, taking a 14-0 lead and extending it to 19-2 after O’Connell’s second trey just 6:30 into the game. Babson bounced back behind five 3-pointers from Palazini that sparked a 21-5 run late in the half for a 35-33 Beavers lead at halftime.
The teams traded the lead three times, with four tie scores, in the second half with Babson taking its final lead on a Braithwaite dunk with 7:36 to go, 56-55. Hanley regained the lead for Bowdoin and Keegan Pieri used a hoop-and-harm to push Bowdoin’s lead to four points, 60- 56, with 6:08 on the clock.
Five times Babson was able to trim the lead to a single possession over the final five minutes, only to see Bowdoin immediately respond with a bucket. The Polar Bears hit 4- of-5 free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal the win.
Babson was able to stay close thanks to Palazini’s performance and 19 points off of 18 Polar Bear turnovers. Bowdoin connected on 50 percent of its shots (28-of-56) and held a 40-31 edge on the glass.
Men’s hockey
Six different players scored and Richard Nerland recorded a shutout as Bowdoin continued to roll in a resounding 7-0 win over the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday at Sidney J. Watson Arena.
The streaking Polar Bears (11-4-2) are unbeaten in their last seven games (6-0-1) and earned a measure of revenge for a Dec. 6 loss to USM. Bowdoin has posted shutouts in consecutive games for the first time since February 2006.
The Huskies fell to 6-7-4 and were held scoreless for the first time this season.
Robert Toczylowski had two goals and one assist for the Polar Bears, who also got a three-point effort from Tim Coffey (one goal, two assists).
Nerland stopped 21 shots for Bowdoin, while Mason St. Hilaire made 39 saves for Southern Maine.
The Polar Bears outshot the Huskies 44-21 for the game and will return to action at Amherst on Feb. 3.
Connor Quinn, Jordan Lalor, Erik Olson and Tim McGarry added one goal each for the Polar Bears.
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