HARTFORD, Conn. -- Junior captain Caran Arora prevailed over John Shuck in a marathon 3-2 showdown at the No. 6 position, keying the Bates men's squash team's thrilling 5-4 win over rival Williams on Saturday in the consolation semifinal round of Hoehn Cup (B Division) play at CSA Men's Team Nationals.

Bates' win avenged a 5-4 defeat against Williams on Jan. 11 in Williamstown, Mass.; Shuck defeated Arora 3-2 in that match. But on Saturday, Arora (Mumbai, India) conceded the first two games by the narrowest of margins, 11-9 and 11-9, before tying the match with back-to-back 11-9 game wins of his own. Arora then outlasted Shuck 14-12 in the rubber game.

The rest of Saturday's match held form with the Jan. 11 matchup: Bates swept the first three positions, with junior Ahmed Abdel Khalek (Cairo, Egypt) easing past Jamie Ruggerio at No. 1, sophomore Ahmed Hatata (Alexandria, Egypt) winning 3-1 over Kevin Chen at No. 2, and sophomore Darrius Campbell (St. Stephen, S.C.) posting a 3-0 victory over Christopher Wilkinson. On Jan. 11, Campbell won that matchup 3-2.

Senior captain Andy Cannon (Greenwich, Conn.) repeated as a winner for the Bobcats, moving up from No. 5 to No. 4 and still winning in straight games over Williams' Addington Graham.

Bates could have made the final score 7-2 had it won in two other five-game marathons: sophomores Spencer Burt (Portland, Ore.) and Carlos Ames (Williamstown, Mass.) both fought to 3-2 decisions at 8 and 9, respectively.

The Bobcats (13-9) will face No. 15 George Washington in the consolation final on Sunday at 11am at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn.; the match will determine 13th and 14th place in the final CSA team rankings. Bates would need another reversal of results from a previous matchup in order to win, as the Colonials defeated the Bobcats 5-4 at Stanford on Jan. 3.

Bates 5, Williams 4
CSA Men's Team Championships | Hoehn Cup Consolation Semifinals
Feb. 21, 2015 at Hartford, Conn.

1. Ahmed Abdel Khalek (B) def. Jamie Ruggiero (W) 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-0)
2. Ahmed Hatata (B) def. Kevin Chen (W) 3-1 (11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4)
3. Darrius Campbell (B) def. Christopher Wilkinson (W) 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-7)
4. Andy Cannon (B) def. Addington Graham (W) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-8)
5. Galen Squiers (W) def. Nabil Saleem (B) 3-0 (11-2, 11-0, 11-2)
6. Caran Arora (B) def. John Shuck (W) 3-2 (9-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 14-12)
7. Michael Petrick (W) def. Jason Shrubb (B) 3-0 (11-9, 11-3, 13-11)
8. Jamie Havran (W) def. Spencer Burt (B) 3-2 (9-11, 11-6, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6)
9. Nicholas Greaves-Tunnell (W) def. Carlos Ames (B) 3-2 (9-11, 14-16, 11-8, 11-5, 12-10)