Graham Safford's game-high 13 points and six assists weren't enough to win in Bates' 66-59 loss at Trinity on Jan. 16, 2015. (File photo by Sarah Crosby/Bates College)

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Bates men's basketball team's win streak was snapped at four while Trinity College won for the 11th time in 12 games, edging the visiting Bobcats 66-59 in New England Small College Athletic Conference action.

Bates senior Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine) was the leading scorer in the game with 13 points, to go with a game-high six assists, but missed 10 of his 13 attempts from the field while being harassed all game long by Trinity's Rick Naylor and Hart Gliedman. Naylor made a key block on a corner jumper by Safford with Trinity leading, 59-57, down the stretch. 

Bobcat senior Adam Philpott (Gloucester, Mass.) added 11 points and six rebounds off the bench. 

Bates (11-3, 1-1 NESCAC) plays at Amherst (10-4, 1-2 NESCAC) Saturday at 3pm.

Jaquann Starks notched 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists to lead the Bantams. Trinity ups its season mark to 13-3 and stayed perfect in three league games. 

With the game tied at 57-57 with just under four minutes left to play, after a 15-footer by Bates sophomore center Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.), Trinity scored seven points in a row to pull away. Andrew Hurd gave the Bantams the lead for good with a drive to make it 59-57, and George Papadeas followed with a dunk off a dish from the baseline by Starks with under one minute remaining. Hurd and Starks went 5-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch to ice the game.

Trinity built a 23-15 lead inside the eight-minute mark of the first half after a short Papadeas jumper and led by double digits for the only time in the game at 31-21 thanks to an easy layup by Steve Spirou with 17 seconds on the clock, made possible by another Starks pass in traffic.  

A pair of free throws by Safford made the score 31-23 at the break. The teams combined to make 10 of 20 three-point attempts in the first half, but Trinity held the Bobcats to just one two-point field goal in 11 attempts.  Safford paced Bates with eight points, while Naylor and Chris Turnbull each scored six for Trinity off the bench in the first stanza.

The Bobcats fought back, tying the game on a three-pointer by Safford at 33-33 at the 15:53 mark of the second half, but five consecutive foul shots by Starks and Alex Conaway pushed the home team's lead back up to 38-33 a minute later.  

Bates junior forward Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) drilled a trey to tie the game at 44-44 at the midpoint of the second frame, but Trinity answered again with two free throws by Papadeas and a three by Hurd.  The Bantams led, 57-51, after a put-back by Ed Ogundeko with 5:30 on the clock, before a fast-break layup by Bobcat senior guard Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.) and Malcolm Delpeche's jumper tied it for the third and final time.

Trinity outrebounded Bates, 23-14, and the Bobcats launched 19 three-pointers but made just five in the second half. Bates finished with a 33.9 percent field-goal percentage, while Trinity shot slightly better from the floor at 38.5 percent but made 16 of 18 second-half free throws. 

Papadeas joined Starks in the Bantams' team lead with 12 points, while Hurd totaled 10 points and six boards, and Ogundeko grabbed a game high nine boards to go with four points and two blocked shots.  

Four Bates players finished the game one whistle away from fouling out: Malcolm Delpeche, Boornazian, Selmon and sophomore Max Eaton (St. Petersburg, Fla.).