Marcus Delpeche had 10 points, including three dunks, to go with eight rebounds in Bates' 64-51 home win over Tufts on Jan. 24, 2015. (File photo by Sarah Crosby/Bates College)

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates College men's basketball team held Tufts University to three points over a span of more than 11 minutes in the second half to key a 64-51 NESCAC victory on Saturday at Alumni Gymnasium, handing the visiting Jumbos their first conference loss and snapping their four-game winning streak. Bates remains undefeated at home (7-0).

Bates (12-4, 2-2 NESCAC) led Tufts (8-8, 3-1 NESCAC) by one point at 42-41 with 13:58 left in the game, before embarking on a decisive 18-3 run for a 60-44 lead with under two minutes left in the game. 

Tufts was held to 7-of-31 shooting from the field (22.6%) in the second half, after shooting at a 50% clip in the first half, including 5-of-12 (41.7%) from behind the three-point line. The Jumbos' 51 points are a season-low.

Bates' decisive second-half run was punctuated by two thunderous dunks for the Bobcats: one on a putback by sophomore Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) for a 46-41 Bates lead, and the second, with 3:52 to go in the game, that gave Bates a 54-44 lead and brought the house down. Senior Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine) grabbed the rebound off a Hunter Sabety miss and led senior 6-foot-1 guard Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.) on a deep pass up the right wing. Selmon took off from approximately 7 feet away from the rim, clutched the ball behind his head and slammed over 6-8 Tufts forward Tom Palleschi with such force that the net tangled up with the rim.

Junior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) led the Bobcats with 20 points, including his own breakaway dunk from Safford in the first half. Boornazian added seven rebounds and four steals. Safford collected 13 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals, and Marcus Delpeche totaled 10 points and eight rebounds. Bates outrebounded Tufts by a 40-37 margin and outscored Tufts 17-8 in points off turnovers, thanks to a 15-9 advantage in giveaways.

Sabety led Tufts with 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Palleschi had 11 points and two blocks, and Tarik Smith added 10 points, six assists and five rebounds off the Jumbo bench.

Tufts led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and jumped out to a 14-4 lead after making four of its first six 3-pointer attempts -- Ben Ferris to open the scoring, followed by Ryan Spadaford, Thomas Lapham and Spadaford again from several feet beyond the line. Bates closed the gap to 16-12 before Tufts reeled off seven straight points on a Sabety layup, a three-point play by Smith and another Sabety hoop down low, for a game-high 23-12 Jumbo lead with 8:50 to go in the period. 

A Smith three and another Sabety layup, assisted by Smith, returned an 11-point lead to the Jumbos before the Bobcats whittled it down with a 9-0 run, featuring two straight layups by junior Mike Newton (Chapel Hill, N.C.) on dishes by sophomore Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.), followed by a Safford three and Boornazian's dunk, which made it 28-26 with 5:26 left in the half. A last-second jumper by Boornazian made it 34-32 in Tufts' favor at intermission.

Safford assisted Boornazian on back-to-back threes at the 16:48 and 15:59 marks of the second half, giving Bates its first lead of the game at 40-39. Sabety answered a Safford jumper with a two-pointer of his own at the 13:58 mark, but the Jumbos went scoreless for the next seven-plus minutes, until Vincent Pace's three-point play with 6:13 left in the game, which cut Bates' lead from nine to six at 50-44. A layup by Newton continued Bates' run, and the Bobcats' momentum surged on Selmon's dunk for a 54-44 lead. Palleschi's jumper with 1:51 left closed Bates' advantage to 60-46, with the win well in hand for the Bobcats.

Bates next plays a non-conference game at St. Joseph's College on Tuesday at 7pm.