Box Score BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College men's basketball team clinched a trip to the NESCAC Tournament with a 78-71 victory over Connecticut College in its regular season finale on Saturday at Morrell Gymnasium.
The Polar Bears (12-10, 4-6 NESCAC) earn the league's seventh seed for the conference tournament where they will travel to Amherst for the quarterfinal round next Saturday. Game times will be announced next week. Connecticut College (12-12, 3-7 NESCAC) sees its season come to an end with the setback.
"It was a very tough way to end the season," Connecticut College Head Men's Basketball Coach Tom Satran said. "We just couldn't grab enough rebounds to put ourselves in position to be successful. Bo McKinkey played a great, great game today and we are greatly disappointed we couldn't win today for him. Our team really improved this year and I'm grateful to our players for all their effort."
Game Highlights
- Early hot shooting from Connecticut College put the Camels ahead, 15-7, following a Lee Messier three-pointer with 13:57 to go in the opening half
- Bowdoin battled back, chipping away at the lead until a Lucas Hausman jumper put the Polar Bears on top, 25-24, with under nine minutes left in the period
- The Polar Bears used a late 15-3 run, capped by a fast break layup by Neil Fuller, to take a 42-35 edge at intermission
- In the second half the Camels battled back, using an 8-0 run to draw within a single point, 46-45, following a pair of David Labossiere free throws
- Bowdoin quickly pushed the lead back to seven, but 7-0 run by the Camels evened the score on a Phil Leotsakos three-pointer, 52-52, with 9:18 on the clock
- The game featured four lead changes and four ties scores over a five minute span that resulted in the contest being tied 66-66 after a three-pointer from Bo McKinley of Connecticut College with 3:18 on the clock
- Lucas Hausman hit a three-pointer on Bowdoin's next possession, sparking a decisive 10-0 run for the Polar Bears over the next two minutes that saw Jack Simonds hit a spinning layup and Tim Ahn knock down a big three-pointer to put the game on ice
By The Numbers
- Connecticut College stayed close thanks to 11 three-pointers but Bowdoin was able to prevail thanks to a 45-29 advantage on the glass and 19-24 effort from the free throw line
- Hausman finished with a game-high 28 points while Matt Palecki scored 12 points and grabbed 14 big rebounds for the Polar Bears
- Simonds finished with 17 points while Ahn scored 10 for Bowdoin
- A 17-point effort from Messier paced the visitors in the loss while McKinley added 14
- Labossiere and Tyler Rowe had ten points each for the Camels
