Mike Boornazian scored 25 points in Bates' 76-72 loss to Birmingham-Southern on Dec. 30, 2014. (File photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Birmingham-Southern College never trailed, building a 44-34 halftime lead and hanging on for a 76-72 victory over the Bates College men's basketball team on Tuesday, the final day of the Emory Holiday Classic.

Bates (7-2) returns to New England for the remainder of the regular season, and will play at Southern Vermont College on Saturday at 2pm. 

Birmingham-Southern (7-4) received 14 points from three players, including reserve John Crain, who drained 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Alex Avery and Larry Thomas also scored 14 apiece, with Avery grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

Junior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) scored a game- and season-high 25 points for Bates, making 7-of-13 shots from the floor, 6-of-10 on 3-pointers, and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Senior captain Adam Philpott (Gloucester, Mass.) scored a season-high 13 points off the bench, and senior captain Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine) added 10 points, all of them scored in the second half, and a season-high nine assists.

Philpott and junior Mike Newton (Chapel Hill, N.C.) both made valuable contributions off Bates' bench, with Newton producing six points, a team-high seven rebounds and four assists.

The Panthers shot 14-of-24 in the first half, a .583 clip, while getting two baskets apiece from six different players. Boornazian and Philpott helped Bates keep the game within reach during the period: Boornazian was 4-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-4 behind the arc, and Philpott made 4-of-5 shot attempts, while the rest of the team was a combined 5-for-19 from the floor (.263).

The Panthers were held to 8-of-28 shooting from the floor (.286) in the second half as Bates clawed back into the game, but they were saved by 5-of-11 shooting (.455) from behind the arc.

Ian Thom made the first two baskets of the game to stake the Panthers to a 4-0 lead. Bates came back with a 6-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from senior captain Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.), to tie the game at 6-6, but a steal by Ross Welch led to a jumper by Larry Thomas for an 8-6 lead, and a three by Crain made it 11-6.

A pair of threes by Boornazian, both assisted by Safford, sandwiched a layup by BSC's Mac Barron to tie the game at 25-25 with 9:08 left in the half. Boornazian tied the game again at 27-27 with a pair of free throws, and at 30-30 with another three. A dunk by sophomore Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.), assisted by Selmon, cut BSC's lead to 35-34 with 2:42 to go, the closest the score would get the rest of the way. BSC ended the half with a 9-0 run, with six unanswered points by Avery followed by a Larry Thomas three with six seconds left in the half.

BSC could not put Bates away, but the Bobcats could get no closer than within six points until a late-game run. A three by Safford with 2:19 cut the lead to 70-63, and another three by the captain with 55 seconds left made it 70-66. Avery's layup gave BSC some breathing room and a 72-66 lead, but with 18 seconds remaining, Philpott drained a three to cut the lead to 72-69. Thomas made 4-of-4 free throw attempts in the final 13 seconds, rendering Boornazian's final basket, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, harmless.