University of Rochester men's basketball used a 21-8 first-half run to pull away and cruise to an 83-67 victory over the Bowdoin College Polar Bears on Saturday evening at the Louis Alexander Palestra in their opening game of the inaugural UAA/NESCAC Challenge.

Ryan Algier broke the seal for the Yellowjackets, going 1-for-2 at the free throw line, as early points from Algier and Gang gave UR a three-point lead.

Alex Halpern knocked down a three to answer on the other end, as the Polar Bears got their offense rolling. The two sides went back and forth in the early going, with four ties over the first nine minutes of action.

Gang answered Halpern's triple with a driving layup on the other end, but James McGowan came right back to even the score at 5-all with a jumper. Rochester would jump out to a 12-8 lead on Mitchell Kershner's three-pointer, UR's first made three of the afternoon, before McGowan scored five-straight to give Bowdoin its first lead of the game, 13-12, with 15:09 to play in the first.

C.J. Amsellem and McGowan traded triples, before Gang's three-pointer evened the score at 18 with 11:11 remaining in the first half.

The Polar Bears then took what would be the final lead of the game on McGowan's jumper with nine minutes and change left in the first half, but Logan Jagodzinski quickly answered with a driving layup to make it a one-point, 21-20 UR lead.

Gang then made it 23-20 with another layup, but Halpern tied the score at 23 with his second of four-made three-pointers.

However, that'd be as close as Bowdoin would get the rest of the way, as with a 21-8 run, Rochester put the game out of reach for the Polar Bears, and took a double-digit lead into the halftime break.

Matt Wiele kicked off the run for UR, getting to the bucket on back-to-back possessions to open up a 27-23 lead. Jagodzinski then scored a layup, before Andrew Szwez went 1-for-2 at the line to pull Bowdoin back within five, 29-24, with 6:21 left in the first.

Szwez got the lead down to six, 32-26, just under two minutes later, but UR answered with five-straight bringing their lead out to double digits, 37-26, for the first time all game on Algier's and-one.

Matt Niemczura went 3-for-3 at the line down the stretch to extend UR's lead out to 13 before Bowdoin's Afamdi Achufusi sank a layup at the buzzer to send the Yellowjackets into the locker room up 44-33.

The 'Jackets kept things rolling to start the second half on back-to-back layups by Algier and Wiele, before McGowan and Michael Simonds combined for five straight to pull the Polar Bears within 10.

But Rochester responded with eight of the next 10, with Niemczura's dunk and Gang's layup, both off Polar Bear turnovers, bringing the Yellowjackets' lead out to 16 and forcing Bowdoin to take a timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Polar Bears pulled within 12, but Bowdoin would come no closer the rest of the way, as Rochester brought its lead all the way out to 20, 65-45, on Jagodzinski's fastbreak layup off Algier's assist with 10:31 to play.

The Yellowjackets led by as many as 23 down the final stretch, before the Polar Bears closed the gap to 16 over the final two minutes, finishing off UR's 83-67 victory.

Rochester moves to 6-1 with the win, bouncing back from a pre-Thanksgiving defeat, while Bowdoin falls to 3-3 on the year.

Algier led the way with 20 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Gang and Wiele joined Algier in double figures, scoring 14 points each, while Wiele and Kershner each notched two steals.

As a team, UR shot 53.4 percent from the field and outrebounded the Polar Bears, 36-27. Rochester also scored 27 points off 19 Bowdoin turnovers and outscored the Polar Bears, 52-18 in the paint.

The Yellowjackets will wrap up the inaugural UAA/NESCAC Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 4 against No. 13 Middlebury at 2:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.