LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior Trace Gotham tipped away an inbounds pass and the Bates men's basketball team held on to defeat Saint Joseph's College of Maine 77-76 Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.
The Bobcats (1-1) led by as many as 21 points, but the Monks (1-2) made life difficult down the stretch for Bates, even grabbing the lead late in the second half, before Bates ultimately prevailed.
With Bates trailing 76-75, junior Stephen Ward (Boston) grabbed a key offensive rebound and made the put-back, putting the Bobcats up by one with three minutes remaining in regulation.
Neither team scored again, but both had their opportunities. Each team was 0-3 from the field over the last three minutes, and the Monks also missed the front end of a one-and-one.
After a mad dash for the ball with just seconds remaining ended up going out of bounds off Bates by the Monks bench in the front court with less than three seconds remaining, the visitors had one final chance to win the game. After a timeout, Teagan Hynes tried to pass the ball into the right wing, but Gotham used his six-foot-six frame to tip the ball into the hands of sophomore Jahmir Primer (Hempstead, N.Y.) as time expired.
Four Bobcats finished in double figures on the evening, with senior Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) scoring a game-high 18 points and Primer chipping in 13 on 6-12 shooting. Ward had a strong performance, tallying 13 points on 6-8 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds. He also recorded two steals and blocked a shot. Junior Simon McCormick (Whitefield, Maine) provided a spark off the bench with 11 points on 5-11 shooting.
While Bates was fairly consistent, it was a tale of two halves for the Monks. Saint Joseph's shot just 2-13 from three-point range in the first half before catching fire and hitting 10 three-pointers in 16 attempts in the second half. Griffin Foley led the way for the visitors, scoring 15 points. Hynes hit a game-high four three-pointers in six attempts on his way to 12 points. Nicholas Curtis and Drew Shea both hit a pair of three-pointers in 10-point efforts for the Monks.
The Bobcats drove to the hoop at will for the first 20 minutes of action. Baxter scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half.
Up 12-11 with 12:35 left in the first half, the Bobcats went on a 14-0 run, culminating in a steal by McCormick and a three-pointer from first-year Brady Coyne (Falmouth, Maine), putting Bates ahead 26-11 with 9:21 left until halftime.
A John Paul Frazier three-pointer put an end to the Bates run, but the Bobcats kept the pressure on the Monks, going up 40-19 on a Baxter layup with 2:38 remaining.
The Monks ended the half on an 8-2 run, trimming the Bobcat lead to 15 at halftime, 42-27.
Sophomore Grant Nadeau (Gorham, Maine) hit a three-pointer with 14:20 remaining in regulation to put the Bobcats up by 16. But the Monks went on a 12-2 run, cutting the lead down to six with 9:47 left in regulation on a Hynes three.
Bates pushed the lead back to 11 with 6:51 left on a Ward free throw before Saint Joseph's went on a 14-2 run, taking the lead on Foley's layup with 3:28 left.
But Ward had the answer on offense and Gotham had it on defense, as Bates survived for a second straight nail-biter win over the Monks. Last year, Baxter hit a three at the buzzer to the win it for Bates in Standish.
The Bobcats shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the contest and 6-12 from three. The Monks finished the night at 50.8 percent overall and 12-29 from three.
Bates is back in action Tuesday when the Bobcats visit the University of Southern Maine. Tip is set for 7:30pm. Saint Joseph's will host Husson University on Saturday at 3:00 PM.
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