Ending a six-game skid against the Bobcats, the Nor'easters improve to 5-2 on the year. Bates, which reached the third round of the NCAA Championship last season, slips back to 2-2.

UNE's ledger through seven games is the best in more than 25 seasons, and the first above .500 (better than 2-5) since 2008-09 (4-3).

Devin Thompson tallied a game-best 21 points for Big Blue. Drew Coveney added 18 points that included 4-of-4 from long distance, a team-high six rebounds, and eight assists. CJ Autry also scored 18 points, and Jean-Luc Parker contributed 11. Three others -- Gavin Dibble, Matt Lettick, and Sam Thomas -- each had nine points. Of the nine Nor'easters to play and score, seven made at least half of their field goal attempts.

For Bates, Malcolm Delpeche had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Justin Zukowski tossed in 15 off the bench. Mike Boornazian registered 14 points and Quin Leary finished with 10 more. Marcus Delpeche and Boornazian shared the game-high in rebounding with eight.

UNE jumped out to a 9-2 lead before the Bobcats gained an 18-17 edge near the midway mark of the 1st half. Bates then used an 8-0 run, including six from Shawn Stickland, to take its largest cushion of the contest at 33-28.

However, only Boornazian could score for the hosts over the final 4:41 of the period as five Nor'easters combined for 15 points to grab a 43-37 advantage at the break. With six in that closing stretch, Autry's 11 points led all players through 20 minutes.

Big Blue quickly extended the lead to 12 (53-41) early in the 2nd half, but an 18-8 swing by Bates not long after wiped away the double-digit deficit to level things at 66-all with 8:41 to go.

Layups by Lettick and Parker restored the UNE edge on the scoreboard, and a technical resulted in a six-point possession for the visitors to establish a 76-66 margin.

Zukowski constructed a 7-2 spurt of his own to get the Bobcats back within six (79-73), only to see the Nor'easters finish the remaining 5:11 without missing a live-ball shot (4-for-4) and sink 14-of-17 at the charity stripe.

Big Blue's 58 points in the final frame came behind 80 percent accuracy from the floor and 23 freebies. Bates was able to keep pace in spite of 36 percent shooting (13-of 36) with a 22-of-25 performance at free throw line.

UNE will entertain Wentworth Institute of Technology in its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.