LEWISTON, Maine -- First-year Jahmir Primer scored a career-high 25 points but the visiting No. 12 nationally ranked Williams College Ephs used a balanced effort to defeat the Bates men's basketball team 72-60 Sunday afternoon in NESCAC action at Alumni Gymnasium.

Junior captain Stephon Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) hit a three with 5:26 left in the first half to put the Bobcats up 19-18. But Alex Stoddard answered quickly on the other end with a three-pointer of his own. Primer (Hempstead, N.Y.) sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 21 with 4:48 remaining in the half. Then Cole Prowitt-Smith responded with a three-pointer with 4:06 on the clock, putting the Ephs (15-3, 5-3 NESCAC) ahead for good.

The Bobcats stayed within striking distance the rest of the half, falling behind by eight before scoring the final four points to trail 29-25 at the break. 

First-year Grant Nadeau (Gorham, Maine) hit a jumper with 16:33 left in regulation to cut the deficit to three at 32-29. But that's as close as Bates got the rest of the way.

The Ephs used an 8-0 run midway through the second half to go up by 13 on a Brandon Arnold layup with 11:05 remaining. A three from sophomore Simon McCormick (Whitefield, Maine) with 9:16 left cut the deficit to 47-40 before the Ephs went on another 8-0 run to go up by 15 on a Nate Karren three-pointer with 8:18 to go. The closest Bates got after that was to within eight points a couple of times late in the contest.

Primer shot 9-18 from the floor, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists for the Bobcats. Baxter scored 16 points of his own on 6-9 shooting, 4-6 from three. But only three other players scored for Bates, combining for just 19 points. Senior Raheem Spence (Nantucket, Mass.) turned in a strong performance on Senior Day, finishing with eight points on 3-5 shooting and a team-high seven rebounds.

Prowitt-Smith and Karren scored 16 points each to pace the Ephs. All 10 Williams players who got minutes scored points for the visitors. 

Bates (9-11, 2-8 NESCAC) honored its five seniors before the game. Spence, Kenny Aruwajoye (Owo, Nigeria), Reggie Fan (Sacramento, Calif.), Joe Collins (Cutchogue, N.Y.), and Andrew Snoddy (Stow, Mass.) all got an loud ovation from the Alumni Gym crowd during introductions. 

The Bobcats will compete in the NESCAC Championships, with seeding determined on Monday.