Clinging to the eighth and final NESCAC playoff spot, the men’s basketball team took the court against the visiting Tufts Jumbos on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats were hot from the field to start the game, and built a big lead behind contributions from sophomore Graham Safford and senior Eddie Bogdanovich.
Safford assisted Bogdanovich for layups on three straight possessions, including a fast break dunk and a three-point play that made it 13-8 early in the half.
The Bobcats would eventually open up their largest lead of the game at 28-13 with a 10-0 run, capped by the highlight of the half, a four-point play by freshman Mike Boornazian with 10:03 on the clock.
Boornazian was the story of the first half, scoring 13 of his 15 points while grabbing three rebounds.
Bogdanovich also chipped in considerably, adding 12 points while shooting 80% from the charity stripe in the first half. He would finish the game with 21 points and 7 rebounds.
At halftime, the new Bobcat logo was revealed. Designed by Maine native Skye Dillon, who operates Skye Design Studios, the new logo is “a clean, one-color graphic that serves as a metaphor to Bates’ distinguished reputation, as well as the simple lifestyle associated with Maine.”
Dillon added, “The Bobcat’s head-only pose engages with the viewer, representing the intimate nature of Bates’ tight-knit community.”
Sophomore Dan Bell described the new logo as “suave”, and senior Kevin Shaugnessy said, “It looks pretty good, definitely an improvement from the old logo.”
There was still a ballgame to finish however. Much as has been the story in a frustrating 2012-13 season for the men’s squad, holding a second half lead proved to be too much to ask.
Tufts came out of the locker room with renewed energy in the second half, shutting down what had been a potent Bates offense and dominating the glass. Bates didn’t make a shot from behind the arc in the half, shooting 0-10 from three and 2-18 for the game.
Senior captain Mark Brust said “I think the shots just weren’t falling from three. They were all good shots, they just weren’t going down.”
Tufts outscored Bates 41-27 in the second half, finally breaking game’s seventh and final tie with a flurry of points with three minutes to go in the game.
“As for the rest of the season, it’s important we take it one game at a time,” said Brust. “At this point it’s our goal to make the NESCAC tournament, and from there anything can happen. We just have to stay together and come to work hard every day.”
Bates hits the road for three games in a row before returning home on February 9th against Hamilton.
