FARMINGTON, Maine -- The University of Maine at Farmington Beavers scored the first 16 points of the game but the Bates men's basketball team never backed down, rallying to win 87-82 Tuesday night in a non-conference road contest.

Reigning NESCAC Player of the Week sophomore Sean O'Leary (Franklin, Mass.) scored a career-high 24 points on 9-14 shooting in the victory. 

It's the largest come-from-behind victory for the Bobcats (14-3) in any game since they rallied from 17 points down on Feb. 14, 2014 to defeat the Beavers (13-5) in Farmington 12 years ago. 

Bates did not have a lead on Tuesday until first-year Chris Bianco (East Greenwich, R.I.) sank a pair of free throws to put the Bobcats ahead 80-78 with 2:15 remaining in regulation. Senior Brady Coyne (Falmouth, Maine) added to the advantage off an offensive rebound from a Bianco miss, converting the put-back and drawing the foul for an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:26 left. He sank the free throw and Bates led 83-78. 

The Beavers cut the lead to two at 84-82 with 28 seconds left on a Brayden St. Pierre free throw. But senior Peter Psyhogeos (Yarmouth, Maine) hit three free throws down the stretch to ice the game for the Bobcats.

Facing an early 16-0 hole, junior Cole Decker (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) got the Bobcats on the board with a three-pointer with 14:38 left in the first half. UMF went back up by 16 with 4:58 left until halftime on a Zach McLaughlin jumper. 

Trailing 34-18, Bates ended the first half on a 14-3 run, trimming the deficit to five by the intermission. With the score 37-24 in favor of the hosts, senior captain Elliott Cravitz (Denver, Colo.) hit a three-pointer with 2:14 on the clock. O'Leary sank a pair of free throws then followed that up with a three-pointer of his own, completing a quick eight-point surge that ensured Bates only trailed 37-32 at the break.

The Beavers continued to play well, grabbing a 12-point lead at 63-51 with 10:05 left in regulation on a Gabe Michaud layup. 

Then O'Leary continued his hot shooting, drilling a three and converting a layup to cut the deficit down to seven. Kory Donlin scored on the other end before Psyhogeos hit a three-pointer, O'Leary made another layup, and Cravitz connected from long range, making the score 64-63 in favor of UMF with 6:26 left. Jason Reynolds answered for the Beavers with a jumper but Coyne hit another three-pointer for the Bobcats and the game stood tied for the first time since tip-off at 67 with 5:08 left in the contest.

UMF and the Bobcats essentially traded buckets from there, with the Beavers going up 78-76 on another Reynolds jumper with 2:52 to go. 

That was the last lead of the game for the hosts, as O'Leary sank a pair of free throws on the other end to tie things up at 78 with 2:43 remaining. Less than a minute later, Bianco put the Bobcats ahead for good. 

Bianco finished with a career-high 14 points and first-year Jamari Robinson (Holbrook, Mass.) added 12 off the bench. Cravitz tallied an efficient nine points on 3-4 shooting. O'Leary scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds on the evening. Psyhogeos also grabbed seven boards while chipping in nine points. Coyne was a perfect 3-3 from the floor on his way to eight points. He also dished out a team-high three assists. Coyne, Cravitz, O'Leary, and Bianco all tallied two steals apiece. 

McLaughlin paced the Beavers with a game-high 26 points on 10-19 shooting. Eighteen of his 26 points came in the first half as the sophomore dealt with foul trouble down the stretch. Donlin added 19 points on 7-11 shooting, Reynolds finished with a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), and Michaud added 10 points on 3-4 shooting.

The Bobcats struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 29.4 percent. Then they lit up the Beavers in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the field and 50 percent (6-12) from three-point range. Bates scored 55 points in the second half. UMF didn't exactly slow down, scoring 45 points of their own over the final 20 minutes. 

Bates ended up connecting on 11 three-pointers in 29 attempts overall to 8-28 for the Beavers. The Bobcats also got to the line more, making 20-26 from the stripe to 14-18 for the hosts.

The Bobcats are back in action this Saturday when they visit Saint Joseph's College of Maine for a 3 p.m. tip.