LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 21 nationally ranked Bates men's squash team fell 5-4 to No. 17 Amherst Thursday night in a very close contest at the Bates College Squash Center.

Bates (2-8) gave the Mammoths (4-3) all they could handle, as neither team swept a single match on the evening. 

Senior captain Jesper Phillips (Moss, Norway) won at the No. 1 position by a count of 3-1 (11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8) over Amherst's Robinson Armour. His match was a relative walk in the park compared to first-year Labeeb Ali's (Plano, Texas) match, the impressive rookie rallied from two games down to defeat Abhimanyu Gupta 3-2 (11-13, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4) at the No. 5 position.

The Bobcats also displayed impressive depth, winning at the No. 8 and 9 positions. Junior Jairaj Singh (Jaipur, India) rallied from a game down to win 3-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5) at No. 8 over Nathaniel Mosse. Meanwhile, sophomore Garrett Wenberg (Rye, N.Y.) held down the fort at No. 9, winning 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6) over Amherst's Andrew Leung.

The match stood tied at four before Amherst's Charlie Sutherby clinched the victory for the Mammoths with a 3-1 win at the No. 6 position.

Bates is back in action on Friday, Jan. 21 when the Bobcats visit MIT for a match that gets underway at 6pm.

No. 17 Amherst 5, No. 21 Bates 4
Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 at Lewiston, Maine

1. Jesper Phillips (B) def. Robinson Armour (A) 11-6, 11-8, 6-11, 11-8
2. Neal Malani (A) def. Alec Spiro (B) 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4
3. Adam Lichtmacher (A) def. Harris Ramlee (B) 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9
4. Kedar Nagaraj (A) def. Peter Koenigsbauer (B) 11-7, 12-10, 5-11, 13-11
5. Labeeb Ali (B) def. Abhimanyu Gupta (A) 11-13, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4
6. Charlie Sutherby (A) def. Jonathan Walker (B) 11-7, 11-9, 11-13, 11-3
7. Yeshwin Sankuratri (A) def. Sultan Hashmi (B) 10-12, 11-9, 11-9, 11-3
8. Jairaj Singh (B) def. Nathaniel Mosse (B) 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5
9. Garrett Wenberg (B) def. Andrew Leung (A) 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6