Now at 7-0, the Bates men's basketball team appears to be in its best shape since the 2006-07 squad that started 11-0 and was nationally ranked for nine weeks. Tuesday night's 76-70 win over Colby, followed two days later by a 71-51 defeat of Bowdoin, represented a team still seemingly on the upswing of what it can achieve.
Sophomore forward Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) has as much a hand as anyone in the team's early success, and the two games last week were no exception. Delpeche posted double-doubles in both games and now has four on the season.
In the Colby game, Marcus tied his career high with 14 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line. He grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, helping Bates to a team 36-28 advantage on the boards.
The Bowdoin game saw Marcus score 11 points, grab 11 more rebounds and pass out a career-high four assists, as the Bobcats outrebounded the Polar Bears 39-22.
Incredibly, after shooting under 50 percent from the free-throw line a season ago, Marcus has made 17 of 19 shots from the charity stripe so far this season, ranking second in the NESCAC in free-throw accuracy (.895). He is also sixth in the league in rebounding (8.4), fifth in field-goal percentage (.604) and 29th in scoring (10.7).
