Lewiston Times

Trailing by 10 at intermission, Bates College authored a 10-point surplus of its own in the second half as the Bobcats forced overtime in its 2022-23 NESCAC debut, Sunday at Connecticut College.

The Camels, playing its second conference contest in three days, rallied to outscore the garnet and white, 11-8, in the five-minute extra session to secure the key 74-71 conference victory.

Connecticut College, winners of three-straight, moves to 11-4 on the year. The Bobcats drop to 5-8 (0-1 NESCAC) in their first overtime contest since falling in a triple OT classic at Colby College, Feb. 22, 2020 in the NESCAC Championship Tournament quarterfinals.

Owning a lead or tie for all but five seconds in the contest, the Camels created an afternoon-best 14-point lead three separate times in the first frame, the last coming at the 5:10 mark when a Ben Rice (Jr.-Hanson, Mass.) three-pointer put Connecticut College up 30-16.

Trailing by a score of 37-27 at the break, Bates came out of the locker and promptly ran off a 34-12 surge to slice the Camels' lead to 51-49 with 8:45 to go. With an 6-0 spurt over the next 1:51, the home team went back ahead by a score of 57-49 with 6:54 left.

A pair of successful Brady Coyne (Fy.-Falmouth, Maine) free throws at 1:16 put the Bobcats to within a single point (61-60). The scoring column would sit idle for both squads over the next 1:11. Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) ended the drought in dramatic fashion as the senior sent in a go-ahead three, providing Bates a brief 63-61 lead.

On the ensuing possession, David Murray (Jr.-Jackson Heights, N.Y.) gathered a Jarron Flynn (Jr.-Roslindale, Mass.) feed and nailed a fastbreak jumper at the buzzer to force the second extra session in the last three outings for the Camels.

Connecticut College kicked off the overtime period with a 7-0 run and never looked back as the Camels held off the Bobcats to improve to 2-0 in NESCAC play.

The aforementioned Murray topped all scorers with his 27 points in the win, going 12-for-18 from the floor in 35 minutes. Cam Schainfeld (So.-Newton, Mass.) and Andrew Hartel (So.-Cape Elizabeth, Maine) each eclipsed double-digits for the victors with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Baxter poured in a team-high 21 points for the senior's third-20+ performance of the season. Coyne and Elliott Cravitz (Fy.-Denver, Colo.) each established new personal-bests with 17 and 11 points, respectively, in the effort for Bates. Devin Harris (Jr.-Bear, Del.) concocted a double-double consisting of 10 points and a dozen rebounds.

The Bobcats return to home turf for the first time since Nov. 29 as Bates welcomes Hamilton College to Alumni Gymnasium Friday night at 7:00 p.m. 

Original source can be found here