Graham Safford scored 26 or more points for the fourth time this season in Bates' 75-74 loss at Salem State. File photo by Sarah Crosby/Bates College.

SALEM, Mass. -- Hamed Akanni's pull-up jumper in the paint fell through the net as time expired, giving Salem State University a 75-74 victory over the Bates College men's basketball team on Sunday evening on the opening day of the Salem State Holiday Classic tournament.

Nicholas Grassa led four Vikings (7-4) in double figures with 17 points. Andrew White added 14 and Akanni and Jon Perez tossed in 12 apiece.

The Bobcats (6-3), who were playing their first game since falling on another buzzer-beater at Bowdoin on Dec. 6, will face Berkeley (N.Y.) College to conclude the tournament tomorrow at 2pm.

Junior captain Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine) scored 26 points and sophomore Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) added a season-high 23 for the Bobcats (6-3), who were without the services of senior captain Luke Matarazzo (Shelton, Conn.) due to injury for the eighth straight game. Safford also passed out four assists and swiped six steals. First-year Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) had his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, including 5-of-5 shooting from the field, to go with a game- and season-high four blocked shots.

The Bobcats outscored the host Vikings 19-2 over the first eight minutes of the second half to tie the game at 47-47. Bates shot 50 percent (30-for-60) from the field, but wasn't as sharp from behind the three-point arc, hitting 5-of-18 (27.8%). Safford was 11-for-20 overall despite missing all five of his 3-point attempts.

Akanni's game-winning hoop came after Boornazian sank a three out of an inbounds pass with 13 seconds remaining to give Bates a 74-72 lead. Salem State's Andrew White drove the lane and drew a foul by Safford. White sank his first free throw, but missed the second, and Malcolm Delpeche was there for his 10th rebound of the game. Delpeche was immediately fouled but missed his first free throw. Akanni corralled the rebound and drove the floor for the decisive basket.

Grassa made a three with four seconds left in the first half to give the Vikings a 45-28 lead at intermission, shortly after the hosts led by a game-high 19-point margin.

Junior Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.) opened the second half with a jump shot to begin Bates' comeback. With 16:38 to go in the period, Safford fed Boornazian for a three to cut it to 12, and Safford scored six unanswered points on his own to quickly cut the deficit to six, at 47-41, with 14:32 still left to play. Selmon's layup and a blocked shot by Malcolm Delpeche were followed by two straight hoops by Malcolm Delpeche, including a dunk that tied up the game at 47-47 with 11:58 to go. A pair of hoops by Safford offset a bucket by White, and a 3-pointer by junior Adam Philpott (Gloucester, Mass.) gave Bates a game-high five-point lead, at 54-49, with 9:52 to go, extending Bates' second-half-opening run to 26-4.

Salem State finally awakened and reeled off seven straight points, with four free throws by Bryan Ortiz sandwiching a three by Jon Perez. But Boornazian answered with a jumper and a three, returning the lead to Bates and setting up a back-and-forth final stretch of regulation time.