CLINTON, N.Y.— Bates men's basketball, despite a game-high 21 points from junior
Babacar Pouye, dropped a hard-fought 74–69 decision at Hamilton College Sunday. The Bobcats, playing their second-straight conference road game, fall to 11-3 overall (0-2 NESCAC), while Hamilton improves to 4-10 on the season (1-0 NESCAC).
Coming back from an initial 7-0 deficit, Bates led for much of the first half and carried a two-point edge (33-31) into intermission. but Hamilton used a late second-half surge and timely free throw shooting to pull out the five-point victory.
Matthew Rideout capped the Continental's opening run with a three-pointer just 2:41 in.
Sean O'Leary got the Bobcats on the board with a three of his own 15 seconds later, and Peter Psyhogeos would later knock down back-to-back threes to knot the game at 12–12 with 14:15 remaining before the break. After another Hamilton triple, Keenan Sparks responded with consecutive lay-ins to put the road team ahead by one (16-15) with 11:40 to go.
Jamari Robinson finished another transition bucket moments later (11:17) to make it 18–15 Bobcats.
Pouye went to work inside midway through the half, scoring two straight baskets in the paint as Bates built a 22–17 lead. A Brady Coyne fast-break three with 5:13 left kept the Bobcats' surplus at five (27-22).
Hamilton rallied late, tying the game at 27–27 on a Jack Stowell triple with 2:46 on the clock. Bates closed the stanza strong, getting a three from Elliott Cravitz (2:22) and a last-second bucket (0:02) from Pouye to take a 33–31 lead into the break.
Bates extended its lead early in the second half (17:51) as Pouye scored three straight baskets to give the Bobcats a 39–36 advantage.
Hamilton answered with a 6–0 spurt, highlighted by a Nate Raub three-pointer, to take a 42–39 lead with 16:55 remaining.
The foes traded baskets and leads over the next several minutes. Psyhogeos connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to put Bates back in front, 47–46, at the 12:02 mark.
From there, the Continentals seized control with a 9–4 run, pushing its lead to 55–51 at 8:09 left. Hamilton continued to build momentum, stretching the margin to seven on four occasions, including a 71-64 cushion at the 1:56 mark.
Bates refused to go quietly. Pouye converted a pair of free throws at 1:21, and another 15 seconds later, to put the Bobcats to within three. After another defensive stop, the junior scored inside with 27 seconds remaining to make it 71–69.
Rideout proceeded however, to sink back-to-efforts from the charity stripe with four seconds to go seal the win for Hamilton.
Pouye also paced Bates with seven boards on the day. Psyhogeos recorded a season-best 17 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Sparks added 11 points and five assists while O'Leary added 10 points in the loss.
Garrett Keyhani (15 points), David Melson (14), and Rideout each achieved double-digit scoring efforts for the Continentals.
The Bobcats now head back to Alumni Gym to host Bowdoin this Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the squad's NESCAC home opener. Bates defeated the Polar Bears 54-50 back on Dec. 3 in Brunswick in what was the non-conference portion of the annual home-and-home.
