Bates College ended the game with a 7-0 run and the Bobcats rallied for a 73-71 NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Bates' Alumni Gym on Saturday afternoon.
Box Score
The Bobcats (17-4, 6-2 NESCAC) picked up just their third win in 13 all-time meetings against Hamilton. All of Bates' victories in the series have come by five points or less. The Bobcats extended their win streak to six games.
Mike Boornazian led Bates with 21 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Malcolm Delpeche chipped in 14 points. Marcus Delpeche and Adam Philpott scored nine apiece, and Graham Safford posted nine points and nine assists. The Bobcats shot 40.7 percent, including just 3 of 20 from 3-point range, but went 22-for-31 (71 percent) at the free-throw line.
Jack Dwyer '18 scored a season-high 15 points and dished out six assists in 31 minutes off the bench for the Continentals (13-9, 1-7). Joe Pucci '18 -- another reserve -- recorded his first double-double with 10 points and a season-best 10 rebounds.
Peter Kazickas '15 added 10 points and four steals, and Jack Donnelly '16 made three 3-pointers and finished with nine points for Hamilton. The Continentals shot 51 percent, including 8 of 16 from beyond the arc, but went just 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) at the charity stripe and committed 21 turnovers.
Billy Selmon stole a pass and streaked down the floor for the go-ahead layup with 26 seconds remaining that gave Bates a 72-71 edge. Boornazian scored the other five points in the game-ending run. The back-and-forth game featured five ties and 14 lead changes. Selmon was 0-for-8 from the field going into the final minute before his clutch steal, which returned the lead to Bates after the Bobcats had fallen behind 69-64.
Hamilton called timeout and with 14 seconds to go, Donnelly missed a deep 3-pointer. Boornazian won the scramble for the rebound and was fouled with 11 seconds left. He made the first free throw and missed the second, starting the clock as Hamilton's Wes Wilbur '17 controlled the rebound. With no timeouts remaining, Hamilton pushed the ball up and set up a 3-point attempt at the top of the arc by Kelan McConnell '18. McConnell missed and Wilbur rebounded, but the Continentals couldn't get a putback attempt off before the final buzzer sounded.
After losing the rebounding battle 24-16 in the first half, Hamilton made up the difference and more for a 37-35 edge by the end of regulation.
Cam Kaubris drilled a deep 3-pointer for a 13-5 Bobcat lead with 14:32 to go in the first half. The eight-point difference stood up as the largest lead for either team the rest of the way. By the 7:36 mark of the first half, the Continentals had tied the score at 26-26 with a 3-pointer by Donnelly and a free throw by Dwyer.
A layup by Mike Newton and a 3-pointer by Safford made it 31-26 Bates with 6:31 to go, but the Continentals etched out a 6-0 run on three unanswered layups for a 32-31 lead with 5:02 left. Bates ran off six points in a row on a dunk by Boornazian and four straight free throws for a 41-35 lead with 1:40 to go. The Continentals closed within two points before the break at 41-39 on two free throws by Karl Koster '18 and a Dwyer layup with 12 seconds to go in the opening period.
Hamilton hosts Wesleyan University for another NESCAC game on Friday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m.
