By Lynn Worthy
Associate Editor

After matching the record for wins in a season the men’s basketball team had their season come end Saturday at Williams. The Bobcats avenged an earlier loss to Bowdoin to advance to the semi-final game of the NESCAC tournament where they fell to number-one ranked Williams 94-86.

The Bobcats and the Ephs tangled for the second time in a three week span. The first meeting in Lewiston, on Feb. 13, saw the top-ranked Ephs slip away with a 86-83 victory.

In the second match-up the two sides picked up right where they left off with neither team pulling away early on. Bates held the lead for nearly five minutes in the first half of play, starting with a 13-0 run keyed by three-pointer from senior Ramon Garcia. Not to be outdone though, Williams ended the first frame with an overwhelming run of their own.

The Ephs closed out the first half with a 10-point lead, 48-38. In the second half the defending national champions increased that lead to as much as 23. In all Williams put together a 22-3 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 53-38 lead.

“Williams has been scoring in bunches all year and we talked about their potential runs before the game. We thought we could slow down their runs by being more patient on offense to keep the ball out of their hands as well as using time outs early if we needed to. We used both strategies and they didn't work as well as we would have liked. The bottom line is that we needed to make more shots during their run to weather the storm. We weren't turning the ball over and we were only down 10 at half. With two or three more makes in the first half it would have been a different story. We were very close,” said Bates head coach Joe Reilly.

The Bobcats eventually battled back and dwindled the lead down to nine points behind the three-point shooting of Jon Furbush and Brian Gerrity. However, the Bates run came too late in the game for them to complete the comeback.

Providing the scoring punch for the Ephs were seniors Chuck Abba who finished with 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting, and Michael Crotty who scored 14 points and dished out 12 assists. Tucker Kain also added 16 points for the Ephmen.

For the Bobcats Ramon Garcia led the way with a game-high 23 points, hitting 6-of-13 from behind the three-point arc. Gerrity added 19 points, and center Elliott Linsley scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor. Furbush chipped in 13, and Zak Ray scored seven points and dished out six assists.

Last weekend the Bobcats triumphed in the rubber match of the season series with rivals Bowdoin. Bates dominated the game between the two sides in early December. The Polar Bears took the second meeting between the two squads on Feb. 7. With that win Bowdoin took over the fourth spot in the conference standings from the Bates, and gave them the right to host the quarterfinal round game.

In the quarterfinal showdown Bates tied a season high for 3-pointers in a game, hitting 15-of-35 attempts from long range in route to trouncing the Polar Bears 87-52.

Gerrity registered a game-high 21 points to lead Bates to victory. Rob Stockwell finished with 16 points, and grabbed seven rebounds for the Bobcats. Furbush added 14 points and seven rebounds, Garcia scored 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from behind the arc, and Zak Ray added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats.

The win at Bowdoin pushed the season total to 18 victories tying for the most ever in a season by a Bates men’s team.

Reilly said about this year’s squad, “I am very proud of the 2003-04 Bobcats. Seniors Ramon Garcia and Pat Conroy set a great example. There was not one player on our team who had a bad attitude or work ethic all season long. As a coach that is all you can ask for. This group was very coachable and gave maximum effort every practice and every game.”

The Bobcats finished their season with a record of 18-8 and 5-4 in the NESCAC. This year’s team also shattered the school record for three-pointers made in a season by, hitting 268 in 26 games. The old record was 208.

The team entered this weekend’s play ranked seventh nationally for three-pointers made per game, and were 23rd in three-point shooting percentage (39.6 percent as a team).
Coming into the NESCAC semi-finals the Bobcats had three players all ranked in the nations top 40 for individual three-point shooting percentage, Gerrity (17th), Garcia (30th), and Furbush (31st). Bates was also ranked 13th in that nation in scoring defense and ninth in field goal percentage defense. Four of the team’s eight losses came at the hands of nationally ranked opponents Williams, Amherst, and Trinity.

“I am also very pleased with our effort and determination in our first ever NESCAC final four,” said Reilly. “It is a great atmosphere and we really proved we belong with the other elite programs in the NESCAC and the national Division III scene.”

“We have a chance to be even better next year, but it will depend on our work ethic in the off-season and how recruiting finishes in late April. Hopefully our experience in the NESCAC final four will provide some motivation to return next year and win the NESCAC championship.”

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