BOX
SCORE
LEWISTON, Maine - Scott Place's three-pointer ripped through the
net with four seconds remaining, lifting the Bates College men's
basketball team to a 57-54 NESCAC victory over Bowdoin College
before a packed and boisterous Alumni Gymnasium Friday night.
Bowdoin's Paul Sellew took an open three-point attempt near the top
of the arc in the last second that bounced away, sealing the win
for Bates. Bowdoin dropped to 10-5 and 0-2 in conference play,
while the host Bobcats rose to 9-7, 1-2 NESCAC.
Three-pointers were the difference in a game that was as close as
could be. The Bobcats shot 40.4 percent from the field but hit 9 of
13 (69.2%) behind the arc, while the Polar Bears went 2-11
(18.2%)on threes in a 44.9% shooting night overall.
Brian Ellis scored a game-high 15 points for Bates, while Chris
Wilson added 10 points and 7 assists. Place scored nine points, all
on threes, as he shot 3-4 from deep.
Mark Phillips scored 12 points with a game-high 8 rebounds and 3
blocked shots for Bowdoin. Will Hanley also scored 12 and Tim Lane
added 10, while Mike Hauser dished out 6 assists. The Polar Bears
outscored the Bobcats 28-10 in the paint.
The game featured 10 lead changes and 12 ties, the final one being
at 54-54 with 39 seconds remaining, after Mike Hauser stripped
Marshall Hatch near midcourt and fed Hanley for a layup. Hanley was
fouled by Ben Thayer on the shot, but he missed the free throw and
Alex Gallant snared the rebound, allowing Bates to wind the clock
down to under 5 seconds before shooting. Wilson kicked out to Place
on the right wing as the shot clock neared expiration, and the
senior stepped into an open shot and caught all net.
Bowdoin had erased a 47-41 Bates lead, the largest for either team
in the entire game, with a 9-2 run, taking the lead back at 48-47
with a pair of free throws by Hanley and retaking it at 50-49 on a
jumper by Kyle Jackson. But Gallant (team-high 6 rebounds) answered
with a baseline jumper, and Hatch, who was 2-2 behind the arc,
followed his own steal with a three-pointer for a 54-50 lead with
3:32 left. A pair of free throws by Lane narrowed the deficit to
54-52, and Hanley's layup with 39 seconds left tied the game at
54.
The first half ended knotted at 27-27, with Phillips pacing the
Polar Bears with 10 points, 4 rebounds and all three of his blocks
in the period, while Jimmy O'Keefe's 6 points and 4 rebounds were a
key supplement to Ellis's 8 points and Wilson's 7. Neither team
achieved a lead higher than 4 points over the first 30 minutes of
the game.
