GORHAM, Maine -- The Bates men's basketball team won the turnover battle and held on for dear life at the end of the game to beat previously undefeated University of Southern Maine by a score of 68-66 Tuesday night at Hill Gym.
The Bobcats (1-4) earned their first victory of the season the hard way as the Huskies (4-1) barely missed a game-winning three-point attempt as time expired.
Bates and USM stood tied at 33 at halftime. Junior
Brady Coyne (Falmouth, Maine) opened the second half with a three-pointer off an assist from fellow junior
Peter Psyhogeos (Yarmouth, Maine) and the Bobcats grabbed the lead for good. Coyne finished the night with a game-high 21 points on 7-13 shooting.
The Bobcats led by as many as 12 points in the second half, going up 55-43 on a layup from sophomore
Ben Leach (Atlanta, Ga.) with 10:54 remaining. But the Huskies slowly chipped away, cutting the lead to two on a Bryce Lausier layup with 23 seconds left.
The Bobcats missed the front end of back-to-back one-and-ones at the line, giving the Huskies two chances to tie or take the lead. The first chance resulted in the 14th turnover of the night for USM, while the second chance ended with a good look from three for Brady Saunders that went in-and-out at the buzzer, as Bates survived.
Taking care of the ball proved to be the key to victory for the visitors, as Bates only turned the ball over six times and scored 16 points off USM turnovers.
Psyhogeos
and sophomore
Babacar Pouye (Carpinteria, Calif.) supported Coyne in the scoring column, tallying 14 and 11 points respectively. Combined, the trio shot 18-40 from the floor. Pouye finished with a team-high nine rebounds and four assists while Psyhogeos grabbed seven boards, blocked two shots, and recorded three steals. Meanwhile, Leach turned in a strong performance with seven points on 3-5 shooting and seven rebounds.
Lausier had a big game for the Huskies, scoring 18 points on 7-14 shooting and grabbing 16 rebounds. Diego Colon added 17 points and Thomas Whelan chipped in 12.
The Bobcats look to keep the momentum going when they visit Thomas College Sunday at 2 p.m.
