HARTFORD, Conn. -- Junior Jairaj Singh won the decisive match in dramatic fashion and the No. 22 nationally ranked Bates men's squash team rallied to defeat No. 20 Amherst 5-4 in the NESCAC quarterfinals Saturday morning. 

The Bobcats (4-10) fell to national powerhouse and top-seeded No. 3 nationally ranked Trinity (13-2) by a count of 9-0 in the semifinals. Bates will play in the third-place match Sunday at 1pm. 

With the Amherst match tied at four, it came down to Singh (Jaipur, India) at the No. 7 position against Amherst's Yeshwin Sankuratri. Singh fell behind in the decisive fifth game, before rallying to tie the match at 10. From there, it went back-and-forth, with both players fighting off match point time and time again. At last, Singh prevailed by a count of 19-17 to win the match 3-2 (5-11, 11-2, 11-8, 5-11, 19-17) and clinching a spot in the NESCAC semifinals for the Bobcats. Singh's match lasted an hour and four minutes. 

Six of the nine matches Saturday morning between the Bobcats and the Mammoths (8-8) went the maximum five games. Bates lost four of those six matches, but still pulled out the victory in the end. 

First-year Labeeb Ali (Plano, Texas) earned the only sweep of the match for either side, winning 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 12-10) at the No. 5 position over Abhimanyu Gupta. Senior captain Peter Koenigsbauer (Seattle, Wash.) earned a key 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9) win at the No. 4 position over Kedar Nagaraj, tying the overall score at four and setting up Singh's match-clinching victory. 

Bates also won at the top of the lineup, with senior captain Jesper Phillips (Moss, Norway) earning a 3-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10) victory over Robinson Armour at the No. 1 position. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the lineup, sophomore Garrett Wenberg (Rye, N.Y.) rallied from down two games to one to win 3-2 (11-6, 9-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-5) over Andrew Leung at the No. 9 position. 

The victory for Bates avenges a 5-4 loss to Amherst earlier this season. The Bobcats have defeated the Mammoths in men's squash 13 of their last 14 tries. 

In the afternoon match against the Bantams, the Bobcats got a strong performance from sophomore Matthew Lazor (West Hartford, Conn.) at the No. 9 position. He took a 2-0 lead on Trinity's Douglas Conigliaro but ended up falling in a 3-2 (11-8, 12-10, 4-11, 5-11, 6-11) heartbreaker. 

No. 22 Bates 5, No. 20 Amherst 4
Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 at Hartford, Conn. 

1. Jesper Phillips (B) def. Robinson Armour (A) 11-5, 9-11, 11-4, 12-10
2. Adam Lichtmache (A) def. Alec Spiro (B) 9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 12-10, 11-6
3. Neal Malani (A) def. Harris Ramlee (B) 10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-4
4. Peter Koenigsbauer (B) def. Kedar Nagaraj (A) 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-9
5. Labeeb Ali (B) def. Abhimanyu Gupta (A) 11-4, 11-6, 12-10
6. Charlie Sutherby (A) def. Jonathan Walker (B) 7-11, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7
7. Jairaj Singh (B) def. Yeshwin Sankuratri (A) 5-11, 11-2, 11-8, 5-11, 19-17
8. Nathaniel Mosse (B) def. Sultan Hashmi (B) 9-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4
9. Garrett Wenberg (B) def. Andrew Leung (A) 11-6, 9-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-5

No. 3 Trinity 9, No. 22 Bates 0
Saturday, Feb. 5, 2021 at Hartford, Conn.

1. Mohamed Sharaf (T) def. Jesper Phillips (B) 11-4, 11-5, 11-4
2. Aly Eltokhy (T) def. Harris Ramlee (B) 11-7, 11-6, 11-5
3. Marawan ElBorolossy (T) def. Peter Koenigsbauer (B) 11-2, 11-5, 11-2
4. Julius Benthin (T) def. Labeeb Ali (B) 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
5. Mateo Restrepo (T) def. Jonathan Walker (B) 11-8, 11-1, 11-6 
6. Will Curtis (T) def. Jairaj Singh (B) 11-2, 11-7, 11-4
7. Utkarsh Baheti (T) def. Sultan Hashmi (B) 11-7, 11-6, 11-6
8. Martin Rios (T) def. Garrett Wenberg (B) 11-8, 11-3, 12-10
9. Douglas Conigliaro (T) def. Matthew Lazor (B) 8-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6