Chris Wilson scored 13 points with 4 assists for the Bobcats.

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Colby College men's basketball team outscored Bates College 23-15 over the final seven and a half minutes to notch a 65-59 NESCAC victory Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium.The Mules won their fourth straight and for the ninth time in 10 games, raising their record to 12-4 overall, 3-0 in conference play. Bates drops to 9-8 overall and 1-3 in the NESCAC.

Junior Chris Wilson (Brewer, Maine) led Bates with 13 points and 4 assists, with seniors Scott Place (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Ben Thayer (Gorham, Maine) adding 10 apiece -- a career high for Thayer. Sophomore Brian Ellis (Braintree, Mass.), who entered the game as Bates' leading scorer, was held scoreless with just two field goal attempts.

Artie Cutrone scored 18 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Adam Choice tallied 17 points to pace the Mules. Justin Sherman and Gil Haylon added 9 points apiece.

Bates took its last lead of the game at 44-42 with 7:29 left on a jumper by junior Marshall Hatch (Chicago, Ill.). Cutrone answered with a layup, and Haylon hit two straight 3-pointers to put the Mules ahead 50-44 with 5:27 left. Wilson responded with a three, but Cutrone spurred a quick 6-0 run and pushed the Colby lead to 9 with a pair of free throws and a layup, followed by a steal and a feed to Michael Russell for a layup that gave Colby the largest lead of the game at 56-47 with 2:45 left.

Bates hit three more 3-pointers over the final 2:19, one each by Place, Hatch and Wilson, but Colby kept hitting its free throws at the other end to stave off  Bates' comeback attempts.

In a game featuring eight ties and 12 lead changes, neither team led by more than four points until the Bobcats took a six-point lead at 40-34 with 12:47 left. That came at the end of a 7-0 Bates run that started with a three by first-year Kyle Philbrook (Auburn, Maine) and included jumpers by Thayer and Wilson. Colby answered with a 6-0 run, with two free throws by Choice, a jumper by Justin Sherman and a layup by Russell.

Bates took a 33-32 lead into halftime, after receiving 8 points from Thayer and shooting 54.5 percent from the field while holding Colby to 41.4%. Choice was the lone offensive force in the period for the Mules, with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Bates plays at UMaine-Farmington in a non-conference game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Colby will host Trinity on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.

STATS: Colby 65, Bates 59