LEWISTON, Maine -- Marcus Delpeche scored a career-high 29 points, Malcolm Delpeche set a program record with seven blocked shots, and the Bates men's basketball team defeated the University of Southern Maine 81-71 Tuesday night at Alumni Gymnasium. 

The Delpeche twins (Wilmington, Del.) have started their senior seasons on fire for the Bobcats (2-1), and on Tuesday the Huskies (2-2) had no answer for either of them.  

They combined to shoot 19-23 from the field with Malcolm only missing one shot on his way to 19 points, 11 rebounds and the aforementioned seven blocks. His seven blocks breaks the program record for blocked shots in one game he previously shared with two other players. Malcolm Delpeche now has 116 career blocks, just 11 shy of the Bates career record currently held by Dave Larrivee '88. 

Meanwhile Marcus Delpeche's career-high 29 points came on 11-14 shooting. He grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds as well. 

The Huskies hung around most of the game thanks to 21 Bates turnovers but a three-pointer from sophomore Max Hummel (Glastonbury, Conn.) put Bates ahead for good with 5:35 to go in the first half. Hummel's three started an 11-0 run as Bates went ahead by a score of 34-24 with 2:06 to go in the first half on a pair of Malcolm Delpeche free throws. 

At the end of the half, with Bates up 38-30, senior Quin Leary (Auburn, Maine) beat the buzzer with a corner three to send the Bobcats into the locker room with a 41-30 advantage. 

The Delpeche twins combined to make the first four field goals of the second half for Bates as they began the half by trading buckets with the Huskies.

Throughout the game Marcus Delpeche impressed with his post moves while Malcolm Delpeche did a little bit of everything, including knocking down some long two-pointers.

Down the stretch, the Huskies got good production from Zach Leal (22 points), Christian McCue (16 points) and James Starks III (14 points). A McCue layup with 54 seconds left cut the Bobcat lead to 77-70. But Bates iced the game thanks to free throws from junior Shawn Strickland (Middletown, Conn.) and Marcus Delpeche.

Strickland contributed six points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists. Meanwhile senior Jerome Darling (Hartford, Conn.) hauled in seven rebounds while chipping in four points.

Bates hits the road Monday to take on the University of New England. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.