Bates 72, Endicott 5
at Lewiston, Maine

WALKER LEADS BATES MEN'S HOOPS PAST ENDICOTT, 72-58

LEWISTON, Maine — Junior forward Ed Walker (Roxbury, Mass.) led all players with 25 points and nine rebounds as the host Bates College Bobcats defeated the visiting Endicott College Power Gulls in non-conference men's college basketball action tonight in Alumni Gym.

Leading 13-12 with eight minutes left in the first half, Bates (12-6) closed the stanza on a 15-3 run, with Walker contributing six points. Walker led all players with 11 points at the break, while Endicott's Eric Simonelli (Duxbury, Mass.) had five to lead the Power Gulls.

Endicott (11-7) trimmed the lead to 30-24 by scoring nine of the first 11 points of the second half, but a 3-pointer by Bates' Billy Hart (Haverhill, Mass.) at the 17:03 mark sparked a 14-2 run that included four Bobcat trifectas in the next 2:30 to open 44-26 lead, Bates' largest of the game. The Bobcats' lead never went below 10 points the rest of the contest.

Walker shot 10-of-19 from the field and five-of-nine from 3-point range to post his third straight game of at least 24 points. Hart scored 15 points, while rookie guard Ramon Garcia (Haverhill, Mass.) added 13. Bates snapped a three-game losing skid with the win. The Bobcats hit a season-high 12 3-pointers, shooting 50 percent from downtown (12-24) for the fourth time this season.

Simonelli led Endicott with 15 points, while juniors Andy Kirk (Dalton, Mass.) and Brendan Burke (Warwick, R.I.) each added 12 points. Kirk tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.