From a Bates College release

LEWISTON, ME – The Amherst College men's basketball team dropped a conference tilt to Bates College for the first time since the 1987-88 season, 76-47.  With the loss, Amherst falls to 14-6 (3-3 NESCAC) heading into Saturday's 4 p.m. game at Tufts University.

Alex Gallant scored 18 of his game- and career-high 24 points in the second half for Bates, and Marshall Hatch scored 13 of his career-high 19 points in the first half, as the Bobcats pulled off the upset. Bates moves to 11-10 overall and 3-4 in NESCAC play with the win. 

Amherst was held to 30.4 percent shooting from the field in the game, including a 7-for-28 effort in the second half, as Amherst totaled only three assists in the game. Bates, conversely, shot over 50 percent in each half, finishing the game at a .542 clip (26-of-48), including a 5-for-7 team effort behind the arc, and had 19 team assists.

Hatch shot 7-for-9 from the field and hit all five of his shots from three-point territory, and also had a team-high four assists and three steals. Gallant, meanwhile, went to work in the second half, canning 7-of-11 shots with an array of mid-range jumpers and inside hoops, and also had three steals. Mark Brust added eight points and eight rebounds. Bates' leading scorer, junior Brian Ellis, attempted only one shot from the field, finishing with four points.

Steven Wheeler (Bloomington, MN) led Amherst with 10 points. Taylor Barrise (Allendale, NJ) had nine points, a career-high 10 rebounds and three steals, and Jeff Holmes (Saunderstown, RI) added eight points and 10 boards.

Bates ran out to a 38-26 lead at the half, fueled by Hatch's 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 behind the arc. The Bobcats made a robust 14 of their 25 shots in the half while holding the Lord Jeffs to a 10-for-28 effort (.357). Hatch nailed a three to open the game, followed by four points by Schmiemann and a pair of buckets by Brust, as the Bobcats opened with an 11-2 run.

Amherst cut the margin to four points on three occasions, the last being at 19-15 with 10:10 to go on David Waller's (Tampa, FL) jumper. A trademark 25-foot three-pointer by Hatch, however, ignited a 10-2 run by Bates in which the senior guard added a two-point jumper and another three that made it 29-17 with 7:45 to go in the period.

Another jumper by Hatch stretched the lead to 33-19 at the 5:23 mark. Alex Gallant pushed it to 14 again with a jumper at 35-21 with 2:11 to go, and then followed with a three-point play that made it 38-21 with 1:32 remaining in the half. Amherst closed out the period with five unanswered points on a three by Barrise and a jumper by first-year Allen Williamson (Saugus, MA), allowing Amherst to narrow the gap to 38-26 at the break.

Amherst out-scored Bates 11-6 over the first six minutes of the second half, cutting the margin to seven (44-37) with 14:10 to go when Wheeler hit the second of two free throws. Hatch then launched his first shot attempt of the half, swishing a three at the 13:19 mark to start Bates on a steady climb to a massive lead. Hatch nailed another three to make it 50-37, and Gallant scored four straight points to make it 54-37 before Amherst finally answered with a putback by Peter Kaasila (Plaistow, NH) at the 10:58 mark.

Amherst's offense turned ice cold, hitting only one of 16 field goal attempts over a span stretching from the 15:48 mark until only 4:16 remained, and Williamson's layup closed the gap to 67-43. Bates finished out the game on a 32-10 run, capped by a pair of Thomas Deegan foul shots with 11 seconds remaining, which gave Bates its largest lead of the game at 76-47.

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