LEWISTON, Maine -- Conner Rood's layup in traffic with 27 seconds remaining in regulation put Hamilton College up for good as the Bates men's basketball team fell 67-64 in a tight NESCAC contest with the Continentals Friday night at Alumni Gym. 

In front of a packed house, Bates (5-9, 0-2 NESCAC) and Hamilton (10-6, 2-1 NESCAC) gave the fans all they could ask for in a dramatic game that saw four ties and eight lead changes. 

The Bobcats led by as many as 12 points in the first half when first-year Elliott Cravitz (Denver, Colo.) made three free throws, putting Bates up 27-15 with six minutes remaining until halftime. 

Then the Continentals went on an 8-0 run to trim the Bates lead to four. First-year Peter Psyhogeos (Yarmouth, Maine) stopped the run when he drilled a three with 1:38 left in the first half. But Eric Anderson answered with a layup on the other end and Bates led 30-25 at the break.

Hamilton and Bates both heated up on offense in the second half, with the Continentals shooting 69.2 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes of action. 

An old-fashioned three-point play from Hamilton's Patrick Mogan tied the game at 37 with 15:44 left in regulation, and from then on out, it was a back-and-forth affair.

In fact, neither team led by more than four points down the stretch. The Continentals went up 49-45 on a Yashiya Crespin jumper with 9:46 left, but Psyhogeos answered with a three to trim the deficit to one. A Garret Keyhani jumper put Hamilton up three before senior Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) nailed a three for Bates, tying the game at 51 with 8:20 to go.

Sophomore Jahmir Primer (Hempstead, N.Y.) made a layup with 3:57 left to put Bates up 60-57. But Mogan and Anderson answered for Hamilton, and the Continentals led 61-60 with 2:40 left. Baxter made a pair of free throws, putting Bates back up by one before a Mogan layup made the score 63-62 in favor of the Continentals with 1:42 remaining.

Neither team scored for almost a full minute, until Bates drew up a terrific play out of a timeout. Primer found Baxter on a backdoor cut and the Bobcats grabbed a 64-63 edge with 45 seconds left. 

Then the Continentals gave Bates a taste of its own medicine, executing a backdoor cut to Rood. Rood gathered the ball in traffic under the hoop and was able to get the bucket, plus a foul, with 27 seconds left.

He missed the free throw, giving Bates a chance to take the lead back once again.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Hamilton's Teja Singh stole the inbounds pass and scored a quick fast break bucket, putting Hamilton up 67-64. The Bobcats still had a couple more chances with time winding down, but Baxter and first-year Brady Coyne (Falmouth, Maine) both missed three-point attempts, and Hamilton prevailed by three.

Baxter led all scorers with 23 points on 9-18 shooting. Psyhogeos finished with a career-high 11 points, drilling 3-5 from three-point range. Primer ended up with 10 points and a team-high four assists. Nine different players scored for Bates.

Four Continentals finished in double figures. Anderson led the way with 16 points on 6-10 shooting. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Mogan finished with 15 points on 6-8 shooting. Keyhani and Hank Morgan added 10 points apiece. Hamilton scored 40 points in the paint to Bates' 18 on the evening.

The Bobcats are back in action Saturday afternoon when they host Amherst for a 3pm tip.