LEWISTON, Maine -- Senior Graham Safford scored 22 of his game-high 31 points in the second half to lift the Bates men's basketball team to a 74-66 win over Wesleyan University Friday night before a raucous crowd in Alumni Gymnasium.
While a snowstorm raged outside Alumni Gym, inside a near-capacity crowd lifted the Bobcats (13-4, 3-2 NESCAC) to their eighth home win in as many contests. Bates will host Connecticut College on Saturday at 3pm.
Wesleyan (13-6, 2-3 NESCAC) plays at Tufts tomorrow at 2pm.
Safford (Hampden, Maine) made 4-of-6 shots from three-point territory in the second half and all four free throws, in his fourth career game with 30 or more points, and his first this season. For the game he was 10-20 from the field, 5-10 from behind the arc, 6-6 at the line, while also handing out four assists and grabbing six rebounds.
Junior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) added 13 points, including 10 in the second half. Sophomore Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) led all players with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Joe Edmonds scored 16 points to lead the Cardinals, while Jack Mackey and Harry Rafferty added 15 apiece. BJ Davis totaled 11 assists.
Wesleyan led by a game-high margin of nine points, at 49-40, after Edmonds' layup with 12:06 to go in the second half capped an 11-2 run, featuring 3-pointers by Davis, Edmonds and Jack Mackey.
The Bobcats began their comeback with a key hustle play by junior Mike Newton (Chapel Hill, N.C.), who hit the floor to corral a missed 3-pointer by freshman teammate Justin Zukowski(Portland, Maine). Newton passed to Safford, who found Boornazian open for a 3-pointer. After a Wesleyan timeout, Safford ran off a screen near the baseline and popped out on the right wing, where Zukowski found him for his first three of the half, closing the gap to 49-46.
Out of a Bates timeout, Mackey drained a three on a Davis feed. After Safford's pullup jumper and a missed three by Mackey, Safford splashed in a three from well beyond the line to give Bates a 53-52 lead with 6:52 left, the Bobcats' first lead since 29-28 late in the first half.
The Bobcats outrebounded the Cardinals 38-31 in the game, 20-10 in the second half. A pair of free throws by sophomore Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) whittled Wesleyan's lead to 49-48 with 8:02 left in the game.
Joseph Kuo dunked on a Davis assist to return the lead to Wesleyan, but a strong move underneath by Marcus Delpeche resulted in two points, and after a Wesleyan turnover, Safford was fouled and hit both free throws for a 57-54 Bates lead.
Wesleyan trailed 58-55 when Marcus Delpeche swatted away a layup attempt by Rashid Epps, and the Bobcats capitalized with another Safford three for a 61-55 lead with 3:55 left.
Wesleyan stayed alive with threes by Mackey at 3:03, a stepback three by Davis with 1:47 to go and, following a Safford three and a free throw by Bates senior Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.), Davis found Rafferty open for one more trifecta, which drew the Cardinals within two points, at 68-66, with 34 seconds left. With Wesleyan forced to foul the rest of the way, however, Boornazian, Safford and Marcus Delpeche all took turns going 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to ice the win.
Both teams were an equal 11-for-29 from the field in an evenly played first half. The Bobcats led 29-26 before the Cardinals finished out the period with seven unanswered points, including an Edmonds jumper in the final seconds, for a 33-29 Wesleyan edge at intermission. Safford and Edmonds had nine points apiece to lead their respective sides in the period.