LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior captain Stephon Baxter scored a game-high 29 points and sophomore Stephen Ward recorded a double-double but the Bates men's basketball team fell 81-72 to No. 23 nationally ranked Wesleyan University Sunday afternoon in NESCAC action at Alumni Gym. 

Both teams were missing a lot of key contributors on Sunday, with the Bobcats (5-4, 0-1 NESCAC) playing without three of their top five scorers. Wesleyan (13-1, 1-0 NESCAC) used a balanced attack to defeat Bates, with four different players finishing in double figures. 

Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) shot 12-25 from the floor and 3-7 from three-point range. He grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists. Ward (Boston) recorded career-highs with 16 points on 7-14 shooting and 15 rebounds. First-year Grant Nadeau (Gorham, Maine) chipped in nine points on 4-7 shooting.

The Cardinals got a team-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting from Nicky Johnson. Shackylle Dezonie chipped in 14 points on 6-12 shooting while Jared Langs (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Gabe Ravetz (11 points, 11 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles for Wesleyan. 

Bates led by as many as eight points in the first half when Ward scored on an assist from Baxter, putting the Bobcats up 10-2 with 14:41 left in the first half.

The Bobcats led 11-4 before the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run, evening the score at 11 with 11:30 remaining. Buckets by Baxter and junior Cam Riley (Sparta, N.J.) put Bates back up by four before Wesleyan went on an 11-0 run to take the lead by a count of 22-15 on a Dezoine layup with 7:10 to go. 

Baxter took over at that point, scoring the next 11 points for the Bobcats and Bates tied the game at 26 on a Baxter jumper with 4:26 on the clock.

But Johnson answered with a three and the Cardinals held on to the lead for the remainder of the game. 

It remained close throughout though, as Wesleyan took a 40-35 advantage into halftime. The Cardinals went up by double figures early in the second half before Bates rallied, trimming the Wesleyan lead to 62-60 with 8:28 remaining in the game on a Baxter layup.

A Nadeau three-pointer with 5:54 to go cut the Cardinal lead down to one at 64-63. But an 8-0 Wesleyan run put the game out of reach for Bates.

Both teams shot 42.3% from the floor but Wesleyan made three more field goals than Bates. The Cardinals also made three more free throws, getting to the line 15 times and making nine from the stripe. The Bobcats went 6-10 from the free throw line.

The Bobcats turned the ball over 17 times and Wesleyan only turned it over 12 times. The Cardinals finished with 16 points off turnovers to Bates' eight.

Bates is back in action Friday at 7pm when the Bobcats visit Amherst.