Ellis	Hatch
Gallant	O'Keefe
Thayer	Wirth

WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Bates College men's basketball team overcame a first-half deficit of 10 points and held off the host Thomas College Terriers in an 84-80 non-league victory on Tuesday night.

Sophomore Brian Ellis (Braintree, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points, while junior Marshall Hatch (Chicago, Ill.) added 13 and sophomore Alex Gallant (Bangor, Maine) scored 12. The trio shot a combined 19-for-29 from the field, leading the Bobcats (3-1) to a team field-goal percentage of .593, the team's highest in nearly two years, since shooting .609 against St. Joseph's on Jan. 16, 2007.

Senior Ben Thayer (Gorham, Maine) and juniors Jimmy O'Keefe (Lexington, Mass.) and Sean Wirth (Barrington, R.I.) combined for 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting and 13 rebounds from off the bench for Bates. Thayer and Wirth both hit all three of their shots. O'Keefe tied Gallant for the team rebounding lead, with 7, in just 11 minutes of action, helping Bates to a 43-29 advantage on the boards.

Andrew Duncanson led the Terriers (1-4) with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, while Darrell Alexander added 18.

A three-pointer by Michael Burchill capped a 17-6 run by Thomas that gave the Terriers a 21-11 lead less than seven minutes into the game. Consecutive 3-pointers by junior Chris Wilson (Brewer, Maine), who dished out 6 assists), and senior Scott Place (Bridgewater, Mass.) cut the lead down to four, but the Terriers held onto the lead until a jumper by Place put the Bobcats ahead 36-35 with 4:16 left in the period. Bates entered intermission with a 46-42 lead, having hit 20 of 28 shots (.714) in the first period.

Thomas started the second period with seven straight points, capped by an Isaiah Brathwaite three, to put the hosts ahead 49-46, but Ellis answered with a jumper, followed by a three-point play, and Hatch buried a three-pointer after that, giving Bates the lead back for good. The Terriers kept the Bobcat lead in single digits for the entire game, however, and it took two free throws apiece by Gallant and Hatch in the final minute to give Bates the final four points needed to sew up the win.

Bates travels to Emmanuel College for another non-conference contest on Thursday at 7 p.m.; the Bobcats then play at rival Bowdoin on Saturday at 4 p.m. for a non-league game.

STATS: Bates 84, Thomas 80