Bates (14-2), winners of 10 straight and the two-seed in the tournament, will face No. 2 nationally ranked and top-seeded Trinity Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in the NESCAC Championship Finals. 

The Bobcats' victory over the Polar Bears in the NESCAC Championship quarterfinals marks the 27th consecutive time Bates has beaten Bowdoin in men's squash.

The Bobcats swept eight matches on Saturday against Bowdoin, starting at the top of the ladder with senior three-time All-American Ahmed Hatata (Alexandria, Egypt) defeating Satya Butler 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-6) at the No. 1 position.

Fellow seniors Darrius Campbell (St. Stephen, S.C.), Spencer Burt (Portland, Ore.) and Carlos Ames (Williamstown, Mass.) all emerged victorious, with Campbell winning in four games, 3-1 (11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1) at the No. 3 position over Ben Bristol. Burt swept Tyler Shonrock 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-7) at the No. 5 position and Ames swept Sam Halpert 3-0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-3) at the No. 9 position.

Junior Anirudh Nambiar (Bangalore, India) took down Sebastian Gilligan-Kim 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-3) at the No. 4 position. 

Sophomores Coley Cannon (Greenwich, Conn.) and McLeod Abbott (Bronxville, N.Y.) won at the No. 6 and 8 positions respectively. Cannon defeated Drew Clark 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-5) and Abbott won 3-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-3) over the Polar Bears' Travis Rase. 

First-year Mahmoud Yousry (Cairo, Egypt) took care of James Paolella 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-8) at the No. 2 position and fellow first-year Graham Bonnell (Southport, Conn.) continued his strong season with a 3-0 (11-1, 11-2, 11-1) win over Andrew Phillips at the No. 7 position.

The Bobcats' semifinal match with the Ephs proved to be much more dramatic. 

Bates did sweep four of the matches against Williams but their other three victories all took the maximum five games. 

Hatata swept his second match of the day at the No. 1 position, defeating the Ephs' Robert Ruggiero 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9). 

But Yousry ran into a significant challenge at the No. 2 position in the form of John Fitzgerald. Yousry took the first two games but Fitzgerald rallied to win games three and four by counts of 11-6 and 11-5.

In game five, the two went the distance and then some, with Yousry emerging victorious by a count of 13-11, earning a hard-fought 3-2 (11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 13-11) win over Fitzgerald.

Campbell took care of William Means by a count of 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6) at the No. 3 position.

However, Carl Shuck gave Nambiar all he could handle at the No. 4 position. Nambiar fell behind 2-1 before prevailing in a very close fourth game by a score of 11-9. Game five proved to be another nail-biter, with Nambiar getting a 14-12 victory, securing a 3-2 (4-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12) win over Shuck.

Burt lost in four games at the No. 5 position but Cannon and Bonnell swept their opponents at the No. 6 and 7 positions respectively. 

At the bottom of the ladder, Abbott lost in three games at the No. 8 position and Ames played an epic match at No. 9 against Ben Eisenberg.

Ames dropped his first two games, falling behind Eisenberg 2-0. But the senior rallied to win the match, taking game three 11-6, winning a dramatic game four 14-12 and dominating the deciding game by a count of 11-2 for a 3-2 (5-11, 11-13, 11-6, 14-12, 11-2) victory.

Last year Bates advanced to the NESCAC Championship Finals for the first time in program history. Saturday's pair of victories secures a second straight appearance against perennial power Trinity in the finals. 

No. 16 Bates 9, No. 26 Bowdoin 0 (NESCAC Championship Quarterfinals)
Feb. 4, 2017 at Amherst, Mass. 

1. Ahmed Hatata (B) def. Satya Butler (BOW) 11-4, 11-6, 11-6
2. Mahmoud Yousry (B) def. James Paolella (BOW) 11-6, 11-3, 11-8
3. Darrius Campbell (B) def. Ben Bristol (BOW) 11-4, 11-6, 9-11, 11-1   
4. Anirudh Nambiar (B) def. Sebastian Gilligan-Kim (BOW) 11-3, 11-9, 11-3
5. Spencer Burt (B) def. Tyler Shonrock (BOW) 11-4, 11-4, 11-7
6. Coley Cannon (B) def. Drew Clark (BOW) 11-6, 11-5, 11-5
7. Graham Bonnell (B) def. Andrew Phillips (BOW) 11-1, 11-2, 11-1
8. McLeod Abbott (B) def. Travis Rase (BOW) 11-2, 11-3, 11-3
9. Carlos Ames (B) def. Sam Halpert (BOW) 11-0, 11-1, 11-3

No. 16 Bates 7, No. 17 Williams 2 (NESCAC Championship Semifinals)
Feb. 4, 2017 at Amherst, Mass.

1. Ahmed Hatata (B) def. Robert Ruggiero (W) 11-5, 11-9, 11-9
2. Mahmoud Yousry (B) def. John Fitzgerald (W) 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 5-11, 13-11
3. Darrius Campbell (B) def. William Means (W) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6
4. Anirudh Nambiar (B) def. Carl Shuck (W) 4-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12
5. John Shuck (W) def. Spencer Burt (B) 11-5, 11-6, 10-12, 13-11
6. Coley Cannon (B) def. Will Ruggiero (W) 11-2, 11-2, 11-9
7. Graham Bonnell (B) def. Mason Elizondo (W) 11-2, 11-5, 11-2
8. Claude Smith (W) def. McLeod Abbott (B) 11-3, 11-3, 11-7
9. Carlos Ames (B) def. Ben Eisenberg (W) 5-11, 11-13, 11-6, 14-12, 11-2