LEWISTON, Maine - The Bates College men's basketball team shot 57% from the field in an 86-65 win over Bowdoin on Saturday afternoon. The Polar Bears fall to 3-2 after their second-straight loss while the Bobcats improve to 5-1 with their third-straight victory.

Will Hanley led the Polar Bears with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Ryan O'Connell and Justin Nowell chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Bobcat sophomore Mark Brust scored 21 points, senior Brian Ellis tallied 20 and senior Alex Gallant added 18 for Bates -- the three players combined to score 68.6 percent of Bates' points on 27-for-42 (.643) shooting from the field.

Bowdoin had its last lead at 10-9, and Randy DeFeo's layup with 6:25 left in the first period had the Polar Bears right in the game, down 27-21. Gallant hit a putback, and junior Thomas Deegan followed that with a three-pointer from the left wing. Gallant then converted a layup on a feed from first-year Luke Matarazzo, then canned a pair of free throws for nine unanswered points by Bates and a 36-21 lead with 3:38 left. The teams went into halftime with Bates ahead 41-27, thanks to 10 points by Gallant and 11 by Brust. DeFeo led Bowdoin with seven points in the period, while Hanley had six.

Bowdoin chipped its way back into the game early in the second half, quickly cutting the Bates lead to six with a three-point play by Nowell, followed by a three and a layup by O'Connell that made it 43-37 Bates with 17:54 left to play. That was as close as Bowdoin would come the rest of the way, however, as Gallant responded with a layup on a high-post feed by Ellis, followed by a pull-up three by Brust and a layup by Ellis that bumped the lead back to 48-37.

Bowdoin will return to action at home on Tuesday night against Maine Maritime. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.