LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior captain Stephon Baxter scored a game-high 27 points and the Bates defense recorded 14 steals in an 85-74 win over UMaine-Farmington Tuesday night at Alumni Gym.

Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) shot 9-22 from the floor on the evening, adding five rebounds, seven assists, and five steals in another all-around performance from the Bobcat guard. First-year Jahmir Primer (Hempstead, N.Y.) added 18 points on 5-7 shooting, seven assists and two steals. Junior Jacob Iwowo (London, England) also finished in double figures with 12 points on 5-12 shooting. 

Senior Raheem Spence (Nantucket, Mass.) made his return to the court and played 27 minutes off the bench, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds and recording five steals in his first game since Feb. 22, 2020. Sophomore Devin Harris (Bear, Del.) added six points on 2-4 shooting and nine rebounds.

Jack Kane paced the Beavers (6-3) with 19 points on 7-13 shooting and 11 rebounds. Zach Brown tallied 14 points, Nathan Poulin added 13 on 5-10 shooting and Drew Storey did not miss a single shot off the bench, finishing with 13 points on 5-5 shooting. 

The Bobcats (6-6) won the game thanks to winning the turnover battle. Bates forced 23 turnovers and only turned the ball over 10 times themselves. The Bobcats scored 20 points off turnovers to the Beavers' nine. 

A Poulin three-pointer with 8:28 remaining in regulation put UMF up by five at 66-61. But Iwowo answered with back-to-back buckets, cutting the deficit to one with 7:25 left on the clock. 

A Baxter jumper with 7:05 to go put Bates ahead for good and the 11-0 run culminated with a Baxter layup with 5:07 remaining, making the score 72-66 in favor of Bates. 

The Beavers cut the lead to four before Baxter went on a personal 7-0 run to put the game out of reach. Baxter scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half and Iwowo scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 20 minutes as well.

Bates led 40-36 at halftime on the strength of 15 first-half points from Primer. Shooting was fairly even, with 41.1 percent from the floor and UMF slightly better at 42.9%.

The Bobcats return to action Saturday afternoon when they host NESCAC foe Tufts at 3pm.