LEWISTON, Maine -- Behind 43 points from the Bates College bench, including an electric performance from
Chiwer Mayen, the Bobcats held off St. Joseph's College Monday night, 82-73, to even the garnet and white's ledger at 5-5 on the year.
In a back-and-forth first half that witnessed six separate lead changes, the home team opened the night with an initial 5-0 lead as
Keenan Sparks (Fy.) landed a three-pointer 1:03 into the contest. The Monks (6-4) answered with a 10-2 response to go ahead by three (10-7) at the 16:38 mark.
St. Joseph's would hold the Bobcats at bay until
Jahmir Primer's (Jr.) trey put Bates back on top, 16-14, with 13:03 before the break. Riding another hot streak, the Monks took off on a second 10-2 surge to build its largest lead of the evening, a six-point lead of 24-18, after a Julian Llopiz three-pointer at 10:35. Llopiz would go on to top the Monks with 20 points in the effort.
A thunderous throw down from Mayen put Bates ahead by one (30-29) with 5:55 to go in the half, closing out a subsequent 12-5 push by the Bobcats. St. Joseph's Teagan Hynes provided the visitors their final surplus of the evening (33-32) with a go-ahead layup at the 3:15 mark.
Bates, shooting a sizzling 68.2% (15-for-22) from the floor in the opening half (63% for the game), accounted for the final seven points of the frame as the Bobcats scooted into the break with a 39-33 cushion.
It would be all Bobcats in the second stanza as the garnet and white increased its advantage to a game-high 16 points when
Babacar Pouye's (So.) rim-rocker made the score 55-39 Bates with 16:07 to go in regulation. The Monks would climb to within six points on a pair of occasions, and as late as 5:21 to go, but could not inch closer.
In a game littered with 51 personal fouls (and one of the technical variety), the two squads combined for 52 free-throw attempts. St. Joseph's knocked down 21 of 32 (65.6%) from the charity stripe while the victors put through 18 of 30 (60%).
Mayen had the Bobcat faithful on their feet most of the night as the Lewiston product contributed a career-high 14 points, 12 of which came on no less than SIX dynamic dunks. The junior also snared a game-high nine rebounds for Bates.
Sean O'Leary (Fy.) matched his teammate with a career-best 14 points of his own, a total padded by netting nine of 10 free-throw efforts.
Pouye recorded his eighth double-digit point total of the season with 10 in 15 minutes of action.
Peter Psyhogeos (Jr.) hit for nine points to go along with team-highs of five assists and three rejections.
Bates now looks ahead to Sunday as the Bobcats kick off 2025 with a visit to rival Colby (2:00 p.m.) in what will be a non-conference tilt.
