The men’s basketball team moved above .500 for the first time this season with a decisive 84-51 victory over Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) on Sunday and began NESCAC play with a nail-biting  74-70 overtime triumph over Bates on Thursday. 
Andrew Madlinger ’14 continued his recent hot streak by scoring 17 points against MMA, including a three-for-six three-point shooting performance. Madlinger is hitting 42.5 percent from outside the three point line; his average 18 points per game places him second amongst all players in the NESCAC. On Tuesday, he was named the Maine Men’s Basketball Association Co-Player of the Week.
Point guard Bryan Hurley ’15 notched his second double-double of the early season by scoring ten points on perfect five-for-five shooting and dishing out 12 assists. Center Max Staiger ’13 added 12 points and Matt Palecki ’16 came off the bench to score 11 points and pull in six rebounds.
The 0-4 Mariners had previously lost by 33 points to the University of Southern Maine, a team that Bowdoin beat 82-45. However, Hurley said that the Polar Bears made a point of not overlooking MMA as a challenger.
“It was nice to see that we came out right from the beginning and put them away,” said Hurley, who leads the NESCAC in assists with 7.4 per game. “If you don’t do that you can easily get stuck into a trap game.” 
Head Coach Tim Gilbride said he was never too concerned that his team would underestimate the Mariners.
“It’s so early in the year that I wasn’t worried about them being overconfident,” said Gilbride. “We have lots to get better at ourselves, so that’s how we approach [the game]. Here’s what we need to work on and here’s what we need to do to win this game and get better going forward.”
According to Hurley, the Polar Bears won by performing well on both ends of the floor.
“Our offense was running like a machine. We could run any play and get a layup out of it,” Hurley  said. “Our man-to-man defense was the best it’s been all season. We pressured the ball a lot. Our zone defense was also effective, so defense was a huge key to the win.”
Against Bates last night, the Polar Bears overcame a first half deficit, finally pushing ahead with a layup by Hurley and only six minutes to play. Trading scores, Bates regained the lead with two minutes left, leading Bowdoin by two points into the final minute. Keegan Peeri ’15 hit a clutch jump shot to even the score, 62-62, forcing the contest into an overtime period. 
In overtime, the teams went back and forth, and were tied with 40 seconds left. With only 14 second left, Hurley hit another key jump shot to push the Polar Bears ahead by two, and Lucas Hausman ’16 sealed the victory, 74-70 with two successful free throw shots after being fouled to stop the clock by Bates. 
The now 4-2 Bears continues its  NESCAC play today with a home game against rival Colby at 7 p.m.