Graham Safford scored a career-high 30 points for the Bobcats. File photo by Sarah Crosby/Bates College.

LEWISTON, Maine -- Nich Jobin and Matt Medeiros scored 21 points apiece and Steve Simonds added 19, and Saint Joseph's College of Maine pulled out an exciting 82-77 win at Bates Tuesday night in Alumni Gymnasium, handing the host Bobcats their first loss of the season despite Graham Safford's 30 points.

Safford scored 16 of his career-high 30 points and dished out five of his eight assists in the second half, registering Bates' first 30-point effort since Reid Christian netted 30 at the University of New England on Jan. 3, 2012.

Safford also had eight assists and three steals in the setback, while Mike Boornazian added 17 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Billy Selmon contributed 11 points and three steals for the Bobcats. First-year center Malcolm Delpeche was a force in the second half, with eight points, five rebounds and three blocks, all in the final 13 minutes. Twin brother Marcus Delpeche had two of his three blocked shots in the second half as well, fueling Bates' inspired play down the stretch.

Jobin's nine rebounds helped the Monks to a 36-34 edge on the boards, and Jordan Tripp handed out a team-high five assists. Jerome Diggs and Zach Blodgett both made a key contribution off the bench -- Diggs had eight points and four steals, while Blodgett checked in with eight points and six rebounds.

The Monks (1-0), playing their first game this season, held off the Bobcats (2-1) with a modest lead for much of the game, and outscored Bates 9-4 over the final 1:26 to break away from a 73-73 tie.

Jobin converted a three-point play on a putback under the hoop for a 76-73 Monks lead, after Safford sank a deep 3-pointer to tie the game with 2:02 to go. Safford made a 12-foot runner to cut it to one with 1:04 to go, but St. Joe's regained the three-point lead when Steve Simonds hit Medeiros with a back-door feed for a layup with 32 seconds to go.

After a Bates timeout, Safford upfaked outside the arc and got his defender in the air, setting up an open look that rimmed out. Simonds was fouled and hit both free throws with 13 seconds to play. Safford then scored an uncontested layup; Simonds was fouled again and iced the win with two more foul shots for an 82-77 lead with six seconds to go.

St. Joe's shot 56.5% from the field in the first half, including 7-of-14 behind the arc. Simonds and Medeiros both hit two threes apiece in a 20-2 first-half run that turned Bates' early 9-0 lead into a 20-11 deficit with 12:45 to go. Bates whittled the lead to four on three occasions before back-to-back threes by medeiros and Krubiel Workie expanded it to 10 points.

Boornazian and Safford combined to outscore St. Joe's 9-0, narrowing the gap to 34-33 on Boornazian's pull-up three on an advance pass from Safford. Jobin answered with a pair of buckets, sandwiching a pair of free throws by James Philbook, to move the lead to seven (40-33) at the half.

Sean Cunningham made a pair of baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, fueling a 10-3 Bates run that tied the game up at 43-43 with 16:41 to go. Medeiros regained the lead for the Monks, hitting a three and then setting up a dunk by Jobin for a 48-43 lead. 

Boornazian warmed up with another three after a putback by Marcus Delpeche, and Bates offset a pair of missed threes by Blodgett with threes by Safford and Boornazian, each set up by the other, putting Bates in a 54-50 lead with 13:17 to go and prompting a Monks timeout. Out of the timeout, Blodgett converted on a pair of hard drives to the hoop to cut it to one, and after five straight missed shots by the Bobcats, another Blodgett layup gave the Monks the lead back. 

Diggs came up with two free throws, a steal and a tip-in in less than a minute, and Simonds capped a 7-1 spurt with a three to give St. Joe's a 65-59 lead with 7:54 to go.

A putback dunk by Malcolm Delpeche and a pair of foul shots by Boornazian tied the game for the fifth time, a 65-65. St. Joe's used four free throws, two each by Simonds and Jobin, to offset a three-point play by Malcolm Delpeche and eke out a 73-68 lead. But a Malcolm Delpeche blocked shot, and a Malcolm Delpeche putback at the other end, preceded Safford's game-tying three at the 2:02 mark, tying the game for the sixth and final time at 73-73.