Justin Zukowski scored a career-high 15 points from off the bench in Bates' 101-89 loss to the University of New England on Nov. 29, 2015. (File photo by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

LEWISTON, Maine -- Devin Thompson, Drew Coveney and CJ Autry combined for 57 points and the University of New England pulled away from the Bates College men's basketball team over the final eight minutes for a 101-89 non-conference victory Sunday evening at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Nor'easters (5-2) beat their second straight in-state opponent from the NESCAC with a season-high point total, shooting 63.8 percent from the field (30-47), including 10-of-14 (.714) from three-point territory. UNE sunk Bowdoin 72-70 last Tuesday.

Coveney made all four of his three-point attempts, all six of his free throws en route to 18 points, and led UNE with eight assists, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Thompson scored a game-high 21 points and added three steals, while Autry scored 18 points while making 3-of-4 from deep. Jean-Luc Parker contributed 11 points and both Matt Lettick and Gavin Dibble scored nine points off the bench, combining to shoot 7-of-8 from the floor.

Junior Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) scored 18 points to go with seven rebounds for Bates (2-2), while senior Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) added 14 points. Junior Marcus Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) had nine points and shared the team rebounding lead with Boornazian, with eight. Sophomore Shawn Strickland (Middletown, Conn.) scored nine points with a team-high four assists. 

Sophomore Justin Zukowski (Portland, Maine) scored a career-high 15 points for the Bobcats in 19 minutes off the bench. Junior Quin Leary (Auburn, Maine) added a career-high 10 points off the bench, shooting 4-for-4 and 2-for-2 from deep.

UNE jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the game sharply, with four different players scoring. Bates clawed back and took its first lead at 18-17 on a jumper by senior Mike Newton (Chapel Hill, N.C.) with 11:02 left in the half. An 8-0 spurt later in the half, capped by six straight points by Strickland, gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the game, 33-28, with 5:08 left, but UNE ended the period with a 15-4 run for a 43-37 lead at the break.

The lead expanded to 55-44 after a Parker jump shot with 15:25 to go in the second half. But a pair of free throws by junior Jerome Darling (Hartford, Conn.), a jumper by Malcolm Delpeche and a jumper by Darling began a 16-7 Bates run, with six points by Darling and six by Leary on two 3-pointers. Strickland fed Boornazian for a layup and with 8:41 left in regulation, Bates tied the game up at 66-66.

UNE responded with layups by Lettick and Parker, and it ballooned into a decisive 10-0 Nor'easter run when Bates was hit with a whistle and a technical foul. Dibble and Thompson combined to make four foul shots in a row with 7:31 left, after which possession stayed with UNE, and a Dibble layup suddenly put Bates behind by 10 again at 76-66 with 7:05 to go.

Zukowski scored seven straight points for Bates, which could come only as close as six points the rest of the way, as the Nor'easters scored 22 points over the final 5:11 of the game, shooting 4-for-4 from the field and 14-for-17 from the line in that span of time.

UNE will host Wentworth in its Commonwealth Coast Conference opener on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.; Bates will next play host to Husson on Dec. 8 at 8 p.m.