Last winter, Jack Coolahan assumed a supporting role for the Babson College men’s basketball team when it won the NCAA Division III national championship.

As a freshman guard for the Beavers, the 6’4, 185-pound Coolahan, a native of Newtown, Pa., averaged 1.8 points a game in nine appearances.

This past Friday in the Princeton Men’s Summer Hoops League, Coolahan stepped into a leading role for the PA Blue Devils, scoring a team-high 21 points to help them pull away to a 70-60 win over King’s Pizzarama at the Community Park courts.

With the Blue Devils coming off a tough 62-60 loss to Majeski Foundation a night earlier, Coolahan and his teammates were primed to get back into the winning column.

“Last night was a hard-fought game, they are obviously the defending champions,” said Coolahan, reflecting on the setback.

“We were motivated tonight to definitely not go 1-3. We started out a little slow but eventually started shooting better.”

Coolahan’s hot shooting from the perimeter was a major factor as the Blue Devils went on a 25-11 run midway through the second half to break open a tight contest that saw King’s trailing just 42-38 at one point.

“I didn’t shoot as well in the first couple of games,” said Coolahan. “I started to really find it tonight. That was a good development for me.”

With the Blue Devils featuring a number of Division III performers, Coolahan believes he must bring intensity every night to make an impact.

“There are a lot of good college players here,” said Coolahan, who started playing with the squad last summer. “I try to be as aggressive as I can and play hard defense.”

In Coolahan’s view, the aggressiveness displayed by the Blue Devils down the stretch Friday night will make it hard to beat when the playoffs start later this month.

“We are better than 2-2, we could definitely string together some wins and get a good playoff seed,” said Coolahan.

“It definitely helps to get stops, get rebounds, and start pushing in transition. I think we can get a lot of points off of that.”