Bates senior Graham Safford took the rest of the Bates men's basketball team on his back and carried the Bobcats to a 74-66 win over Wesleyan on Friday night, scoring 22 of his season-high 31 points in the second half of the big NESCAC win.
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.
The following day, Safford didn't shoot as sharply, struggling to a 1-of-11 effort from the field. But the 6-foot-1 point guard more than made up for it with the rest of his game. Safford made 8-of-8 free throws and finished with 10 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and a season-high seven assists -- just one shy of his own team single-game record. The Bobcats scored the final 19 points of the game and defeated Connecticut College 76-61, moving to 4-2 in conference games and a tie for second place in the NESCAC. By weekend's end, Safford had scored 1,106 career points and moved past Erik Johnson '90 into 24th place on the team's all-time scoring list.
