The Bobcats made particular effort to conserve their emotions after the final buzzer, instead shaking hands with the Ospreys and saving the euphoria for when they returned to the locker room, head coach Jon Furbush said from the team bus after the game. "We're on the best bus ride ever right now," Furbush said. "There's just a lot of good energy here right now."

Bates (21-6) will face next NESCAC rival Trinity (22-5) on Friday at a site to be determined tomorrow. Babson will play Johns Hopkins in the other half of the regional doubleheader, with the winners to meet on Saturday, March 14.

"I'm really happy for these guys," said Furbush. "We were so up and down throughout the game. Things didn't go our way at times, and things were great at other times. The guys stayed the course and found a way to win." 

Bates outrebounded its opponent by more than 10 boards for the second night in a row, enjoying a 48-34 advantage, as sophomores Malcolm Delpeche and Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) grabbed 10 rebounds apiece. Malcolm chipped in 17 points and two blocks in his star turn as a Bobcat. Junior Mike Newton (Chapel Hill, N.C.) grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to aid the Bobcat cause.

Junior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) scored a game-high 18 points for Bates, netting his 1,000th career point late in regulation time. The junior swingman had 12 points in the first 12 minutes of the game, boosting Bates to a 26-11 lead in that time. Boornazian added a backward tip-in of a miss by senior Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine) to be the first-half buzzer and send Bates to a 33-23 lead at the break.

Safford scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime, and senior Adam Philpott (Gloucester, Mass.) scored eight points off the bench, making 2-of-4 three-point attempts.

The No. 17 nationally ranked Ospreys finish the year 23-6. Anthony Woodard led Stockton with 17 points, with 16 of them scored after halftime. New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year Josh Blamon added 14 points, 11 of them in the first half, as he was bottled up for much of the game by Bates senior guard Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.). Armin Cane scored 10 points and Carlton Whitehead came off the bench for seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.

After shooting over 52 percent on field goal attempts the night before, Bates was held to .344 shooting by the Ospreys. But Bates' 1-3-1 zone defense, designed to make the Ospreys take shots they weren't accustomed to taking, led to .356 shooting from the field. 

"We noticed that in Stockton's losses, Blamon and Cane hadn't played great. We really tried to limit their touches and production," said Furbush. "Billy Selmon had a big assignment tonight (on Blamon), and I thought he made him really work for his touches, and when he did have the ball, made him really uncomfortable."

Bates jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first four minutes and led by as many as 16 points in the first half, forcing the Ospreys to play from behind for the rest of regulation. Stockton finally tied the game at 51-51 with 5:34 left in the second half. Bates jumped back ahead 55-51 with 2:58 to go with three free throws by Boornazian -- his 998th, 999th and 1,000th career points -- but Stockton held Bates scoreless for the final three minutes, and tied the game at 55-55 on a pair of free throws by Anthony Woodard at 2:01 and a Woodard layup with 43 seconds left. Safford blocked the potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer by Mike Catanoso to send the game into extra time.

Stockton's first and biggest lead of the game occurred with the first basket of the overtime period, as Woodard's layup rolled around the rim and in 54 seconds in. Safford pulled up for a deep 3-pointer with 3:13 to go to return the lead to Bates. Woodard scored his eighth straight point for the Ospreys with another hoop underneath for a 59-58 Stockton lead with 2:35 to go, but they would be the Ospreys' final points.

Safford drew a foul and made both of his free throws for a 60-59 Bates lead. Selmon stole the ball from Whitehead, and Selmon was fouled while streaking for the layup. The senior made 1-of-2 free throws for a 61-59 Bates advantage.

Boornazian appeared to deflect a jump shot by Cane, but was not credited with what would be his career-high third block of the game. Marcus Delpeche controlled the resulting loose ball and was fouled but missed both free throws. But at the other end Safford stole the ball from Stockton's Marcus Harmon, and Bates called timeout.

Out of the timeout, Boornazian missed a jump shot, but Marcus Delpeche followed with a perfectly timed tip slam to open up a 64-59 lead with 26 seconds remaining. 

The sophomore forward dominated the final half-minute. He rebounded a missed three by Stockton's Armin Cane and was fouled. After making both free throws this time for a 65-59 lead, he swatted away a 3-pointer put up by Whitehead. Boornazian cleaned up the rebound, got fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws for the 66-59 lead. Safford was fouled again with 2.9 seconds to go and made both for the 68-59 final.

The Bobcats broke the team record for wins in a season, surpassing the 20-6 team from 2005-06.

"I'll look at the big picture when season's finally over and embrace it then," said Furbush. "But there are a lot of firsts going on in this program right now."

Boornazian joins Safford as the 32nd member of Bates' 1,000 career points club.