ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Bates College senior Brian Ellis (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) scored 23 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Bobcats to a season-opening 74-60 non-conference win over Babson College at the University of Rochester's Chuck Resler Invitational.

Babson dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

Bates faces St. Lawrence tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Rochester's Palestra. The game can be followed via Live Stats and Video Webcast.

Ellis, the All-NESCAC forward who entered the game with 985 career points, became the 30th player in Bates men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. His jumper with 17:03 to play in the second half represented the 999th and 1,000th points of his career, and gave Bates a 44-34 lead. Ellis went on to pass Tom Goodwin '78 at 1,005 and now is at 29th place on the list, with 1,008. The last player to join the 1,000-point club was Bryan Wholey '08 in January 2008, Ellis's rookie season.

Ellis shot 10-for-15 from the floor, while senior Alex Gallant (Bangor, Maine) hit 8-of-10 shots for 18 points. Sophomore guard Mark Brust (Duxbury, Mass.) added 14 points. Gallant and senior Nick Schmiemann (Weymouth, Mass.) shared the game lead in rebounding with seven apiece, helping Bates to a 33-23 advantage on the glass.

First-year guard Luke Matarazzo (Shelton, Conn.) played 23 minutes and dished out a team-high five assists, and was the only newcomer to see playing time in the Bobcats' season debut. Ellis, Schmiemann and junior Kyle Philbrook (Auburn, Maine) added three assists apiece.

Bates built an eight-point lead in the opening 10:29 of the game, as Gallant's second straight bucket made it 22-14. The Beavers rallied around a pair of three-pointers by Matt Palazini to go on a 16-6 run, capped by a Palazini jumper, which gave them their only lead of the game at 30-28 with 4:47 left in the first half. Bates finished the period with an 8-2 run of its own, sparked by two straight baskets scored by Brust, for a 36-32 lead at halftime.

Bates pushed the lead into double digits early in the second, using a jumper by Ellis, a jumper by Schmiemann and a layup, by Schmiemann assisted by Ellis, to make it 42-32 with 17:44 left. Bates kept the lead between eight and 16 points the rest of the way, shooting 16-28 in the second half, 31-53 in the game (.585).

Palazini and Alex Rudolph led the Beavers (1-1) with 10 points apiece. Babson was held to .434 shooting from the field, including 10-26 (.385) in the second half.