LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior captain Stephon Baxter scored a game-high 23 points but the visiting Trinity College Bantams used a fast start in the second half to sneak past the Bates men's basketball team by a final score of 70-66 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium. 

Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) shot 11-24 from the floor to pace the Bobcats (8-9, 2-6 NESCAC) in the close loss. Junior Jacob Iwowo (London, England) and first-year Jahmir Primer (Hempstead, N.Y.) added 10 points each for Bates while senior Raheem Spence (Nantucket, Mass.) finished with seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Donald Jorden led the Bantams (11-8, 2-5 NESCAC) with 16 points on 6-8 shooting and Will Dorion finished with 13 points and a game-high nine assists. 

The game stood tied at 30 at halftime before Trinity took control early in the second half. With Bates up 34-33, Joseph Hoch hit a three for the Bantams with 18:26 remaining, giving them the lead for good. Hock's three started an 11-0 run that saw Trinity's lead grow to 10 on a Gilbert Otoo jumper with 15:50 on the clock.

A three from sophomore Simon McCormick (Whitefield, Maine) followed by buckets from Primer and Iwowo cut the deficit to three with 15:23 left in regulation. But the Bantams continued to find success on offense and built their biggest lead of the game when Ben Callahan-Gold hit a three with 8:58 to go, making the score 55-44.

Down 65-55 with 3:33 left after a Jorden layup, the Bobcats rallied.

A Baxter layup followed by a pair of Spence free throws cut the Bantam lead to six. Then another Baxter layup made the score 65-61 with 2:08 to go. McCormick got the crowd into it even more with a deep three-pointer, getting Bates to within one at 65-64 with 1:34 remaining.

But Jorden hit a pair of free throws on the other end and the Bates offense couldn't get enough going down the stretch to complete the comeback. 

The Bantams shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and put up 40 points, knocking down five of their nine total made three-pointers along the way. Meanwhile Bates only shot just over 35 percent in the second half. Trinity earned 12 second chance points while holding Bates to just two second chance points on the afternoon.

Bates hits the road Monday to take on UMaine-Farmington in non-conference action. Tip is set for 7pm.