WORCESTER, MASS. -- In what was undoubtedly one of the greatest endings in the history of Babson College athletics, sophomore forward Brian Parsons (Queensbury, N.Y.) tipped in a miss by senior co-captain Jeff Hines (Waltham, Mass.) at the buzzer to lift the Beavers to an incredible 72-70 win over Springfield College in the championship game of the 2004 NEWMAC Men's Basketball Tournament. As a result, Babson (20-7) receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament - the squad's second in three years and fifth in the history of the program.

After knocking off top-seeded WPI on Friday night, fourth-seeded Springfield (12-17) played outstanding basketball in the first half. The Pride used an 11-3 run midway through the period to build a 27-17 lead with six minutes to go, and later led by as many as 11 points (33-22) with 3:42 on the clock. Parsons then scored four points during an 8-2 Babson spurt that closed the gap to five at 35-30 with less than a minute to go, but Springfield junior Jason O'Tash (Alfred, Maine) came back to sink a short jumper with two seconds remaining, giving the Pride a 37-30 lead at the break.

Parsons continued to lead the Babson charge at the start of the second half, as he scored seven points during a 9-2 run that tied the contest, 39-39. The Beavers would later take their first lead of the game at 45-44 on a pair of free throws from junior Dan Elliman (Tewksbury, Mass.) with 13:46 to go, but the Pride responded with a 10-2 burst that pushed their advantage back to seven, 54-47, with 10:50 left to play.

Facing its largest deficit of the second half, Babson once again mounted a comeback behind Parsons, who scored back-to-back buckets to spark a 9-0 run. He converted a nice post feed from Hines to pull Beavers to within five, 54-49, and then put back a missed jumper on his team's next possession to make it 54-51. Senior co-captain Luke Weber (Highland Mills, N.Y.) continued the Babson barrage with a baseline jumper with just under nine minutes left to play, and junior guard Phil Riffe (Newton, Mass.) added a long three-pointer that gave the Beavers a 56-54 edge with 8:13 on the clock.

The two teams continued to jostle back and forth over the next three minutes, as Babson built a 63-60 lead before first-year guard Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, N.Y.) drained a clutch three-pointer with 3:18 left to knot the score, 63-63. Weber then knocked down a short jumper from the right side to put Babson in front by two, and, after a blocked shot by Weber at the other end, Hines scored on a drive to the basket to give the Beavers their largest lead of the game, 67-63, with just under two minutes remaining.

Sophomore Derek Yvon (East Longmeadow, Mass.) cut Springfield's deficit in half with two free throws with 1:42 to go, and O'Tash once again tied the game with a short jumper in the paint with 1:03 on the clock. Babson junior CJ Enere (Hyde Park, Mass.) then drew a foul at the other end, and sank both freebies to put his team in front, 69-67, with 38.9 seconds left in regulation.

After each team hit one of two free throws on their next possession, Springfield pushed the ball up court trailing 70-68 with 17 seconds to go. First-year forward Damian Farley (Natick, Mass.) then drove down the right side and knocked down a tough runner while drawing a foul, tying the game at 70-70 with 8.6 seconds left in the contest. However, his ensuing free throw rimmed out and into the hands of Weber, who immediately got the ball to Hines as Babson rushed up court with time winding down.

With less than five seconds to go, Hines drove down the right side of the lane, where he ran into a pair of Springfield defenders. The senior guard then pulled up and fired a fade away jumper from the right baseline that glanced off the rim on the near side. Parsons and Weber both got a hand on the rebound, and Parsons was credited with the game-winning basket as his tip went through just as the buzzer sounded, giving Babson the incredible 72-70 win.

It was a fitting end to a spectacular weekend for Parsons, who followed up his 16-point performance in Friday's semifinal win over MIT with a tremendous 21-point, six-rebound effort in the title game. He scored 14 of those 21 points in the second half, including a clutch 4-for-5 shooting mark from the free throw line.

Also fitting were the outstanding performances of co-captains Hines and Weber, who joined an elite group in Babson men's basketball history by guiding their team to two NCAA Tournament appearances. Weber recorded his first double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while also drawing a key charge on defense with just under five minutes remaining in the game. Hines was also tremendous for the Beavers, as he recorded 15 points, five assists, and three steals in the win.

Yvon finished with a game-high 24 points for Springfield, while O'Tash chipped in with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Sophomore forward Mike DeCesar (Acton, Mass.) added nine points and six rebounds for the Pride, while Pizzo scored eight points and dished out a team-high four assists.

Babson now heads into the NCAA Tournament having won eight straight games and 12 of its last 13. The Beavers' last trip to the Big Dance came in 2001-02, when Hines and Weber helped lead their squad to a win over Union College and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen in Brockport, New York. Babson also received an NCAA bid in 1991-92, as well as back-to-back bids in 1994-95 and 1995-96. Babson will travel to Beverly, Massachusetts for a first round game against Endicott College on Thursday night, with the winner of that contest heading to Keene State on Saturday.