It's the first win for the Bobcats (8-2) over the Diplomats (6-7) since 2009. 

Senior captain Spencer Burt (Portland, Ore.) picked up the match-clinching win for the Bobcats with a 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 12-10) victory over Samm Fulton at the No. 5 position. 

Fellow seniors Ahmed Hatata (Alexandria, Egypt) and Carlos Ames (Williamstown, Mass.) picked up big wins as well for Bates on a day where every individual match was magnified by the closeness of the competition. 

Hatata won at the No. 1 position, taking down Cole Osborne 3-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-7) in a clean sweep. 

Ames battled hard but fell behind 2-1 in his match with King Bassett. Then he rallied in dramatic fashion, taking the fourth game 11-7 and prevailing in five games by a score of 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5). 

Underclassmen also played a huge role in the Bobcats' win on Saturday.

First-year Mahmoud Yousry (Cairo, Egypt) swept Shams Abbas 3-0 (12-10, 11-2, 11-8) at the No. 3 position and sophomore Coley Cannon (Greenwich, Conn.) came back from one game down to emerge victorious over Gavan Hitchenor by a count of 3-1 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3).

The Bobcats are back in action Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. when they take on Amherst to conclude the Amherst Round Robin.

No. 18 Bates 5, No. 13 Franklin & Marshall 4
Jan. 21, 2017 at Amherst, Mass.

1. Ahmed Hatata (B) def. Cole Osborne (FMCM) 12-10, 11-5, 11-7
2. Silvio Soom (FMCM) def. Darrius Campbell (B) 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7
3. Mahmoud Yousry (B) def. Shams Abbas (FMCM) 12-10, 11-2, 11-8
4. Yannis Senkel (FMCM) def. Anirudh Nambiar (B) 11-4, 11-9, 11-3
5. Spencer Burt (B) def. Samm Fulton (FMCM) 11-7, 11-9, 12-10
6. Coley Cannon (B) def. Gavan Hitchenor (FMCM) 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-3
7. Jackson McCord (FMCM) def. Graham Bonnell (B) 11-5, 4-11, 11-4, 11-3
8. Carlos Ames (B) def. King Bassett (FMCM) 6-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 11-5
9. Ricardo Machado (FMCM) def. McLeod Abbott (B) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5