DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Keith Kahlfeldt hit a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining, and Mark Brust's bid for a game-winning three-pointer missed the mark, as Concordia University Wisconsin edged the Bates College men's basketball team 60-58 on Thursday in the Daytona Beach Shootout.
The Bobcats (5-6) split their two games in Florida, having defeated Washington & Lee on Wednesday. The Falcons rose to 5-3.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 18-4 lead, but the Bobcats quickly closed the gap, beginning with a jumper by senior Ed Bogdanovich (Portland, Maine) and followed by a three-point play by sophomore Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine), who was named to the All-Tournament Team. Senior Mark Brust (Duxbury, Mass.) made a jumper to close the gap to 20-14, and senior John Murphy (Yarmouth, Maine) drained a 3-pointer with 7:03 to play in the period to make it a three-point game at 20-17. CUW bumped its lead back to nine and led 30-21 with 2:17 to go in the half before Bates closed out the period with a 9-1 run, fueled by a layup and a three by Brust, followed by Safford's steal and jump shot with one second left, bringing Bates within 31-30 at intermission.
Safford made a free throw to open the second half, then Brust fed him for a three that gave Bates its first lead of the game at 34-33 with 17:15 left in the game.
Safford, who made 8-of-10 shots from the free-throw line in the game, including 7-of-8 in the second half, made a pair of freebies to expand Bates' lead to 43-37 with 14:51 to go. A three by CUW's Steven Brodie made it a two-point game, and a three-point play by Bryan Donaldson tied the game up at 48-48 before the 10:00 mark.
Bates junior Derek Murphy (Lowell, Mass.) responded with a three on an assist by junior Luke Matarazzo (Shelton, Conn.) returned a three-point edged to the Bobcats. Bogdanovich made a pair of free throws and Safford followed with another for a 57-50 Bates lead with 6:35 to play.
Bates mustered only one point the rest of the way, however — a foul shot by Bogdanovich with 2:38 to go that made it 58-52 in Bates' favor. CUW's Brian Jackson responded with a jumper, then Brodie was fouled after a Falcon offensive rebound and made both shots to close it to 58-56 with 1:48 to go. Then a steal by Jackson led to a fast-break layup by Mark Scholz that knotted the score at 58-58 with 1:03 left. Sophomore Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.) missed a jumper on Bates' ensuing possession, and after a timeout by CUW with 24 seconds left, Kalfeldt was fouled with five ticks on the clock.
Safford scored a game-high 17 points and added four steals, while Brust had 13 points. Bogdanovich added eight points and seven boards, tying for the team rebounding lead with senior Taylor Gartley (Rockport, Maine).
Mark Pace was the only Falcon to score in double figures, with 11 points. Malcolm Bowers grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, helping CUW to a slight 37-35 edge on the boards.
Bates turned the ball over only 11 times, but the Bobcats shot 35.1% from the floor, compared to CUW's 46.2% clip.
Bates returns to action on Dec. 29 with a non-conference home game against Brandeis at 2pm.