1/27/09
Men's basketball stifled at Bates
LEWISTON -- Bates College used a strong second half showing to set down the University of Maine at Farmington 62-44 in non-conference men's basketball action tonight.
The Beavers fell to 6-9 with a trip to Vermont this weekend to face North Atlantic Conference foes Green Mountain College (Friday) and Castleton State College (Saturday). The Bobcats improved to 10-8.
Josh Tanguay (Gorham, ME) led the Beavers with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Eric Taylor (Oakland, ME) also scored 13 points. Tanguay and Ted Neil (Strong, ME) each blocked three shots in the loss.
After holding a 26-24 edge at intermission, the Beavers struggled in the second half, hitting only eight of 31 field goals (25.8 percent), including zero of eight 3-point shots. Meanwhile, the Bobcats made 18 of their 30 shots (60 percent) from the field in the second half to outscore Farmington 38-18.
Brian Ellis scored a game-high 21 points for Bates, while Chris Wilson pitched in 13 points and Nick Schmiemann popped in 10 points and grabbed eight boards.
Neither team played sharply in the first half, each shooting under 38 percent from the field in the period. A layup by Ben Thayer gave Bates an early 8-4 lead, but Farmington outscored Bates 9-1 over a five-minute span to take a 13-9 lead, as a three by Eric Lelansky was followed by two straight fast-break layups by Taylor. Schmiemann found Sean Wirth underneath for a layup, then hit a pair of free throws to retie the game at 13, and a pair of hoops by Ellis gave Bates a four-point edge again, capping an 8-0 run.
Taylor converted another layup before the clock expired on the period for a 26-24 halftime lead for the Beavers.
Bates started the second half with increased intensity and immediately went on a 15-2 run in the first 4:24 of the period for a 39-28 lead with 15:24 left to play. Wilson started the run with a jumper and the junior co-captain contributed 8 points.
Bates extended the lead to 20 (56-36) over the next eight minutes, with Schmiemann scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds over that span, and the Bobcats were able to coast to the victory over the remainder of the game.
