Courtsey of Brian Beard

Last weekend, the men’s basketball team (3–0; 0–0 NESCAC) started off its season strong, going 2–0 to begin non-conference play. The two wins included a 75–58 win over Curry College (0–4) last Friday and a 71–53 victory over Regis College (2–1) the following day.

Both games were played as part of the second annual Autism Acceptance Classic, a charity event hosted at Regis this year. The Polar Bears sat at 2–0 at the beginning of their season for the first time since 2021.

Head Coach Alex Lloyd believes the weekend was an overall good showcase of the team’s potential.

“I thought both games were really good. Our team established a good level of defensive focus and energy, and that led to just a lot of positive things for us over the course of the games,” Lloyd said.

The defensive intensity of the Polar Bears was a highlight from the weekend, according to Lloyd, with the players finding many opportunities to throw a wrench in the Curry and Regis offenses.

“I thought that our guys did a really good job of just being disruptive,… closing the gaps, getting through screens,” Lloyd said. “We made it really hard for both Curry and Regis to run what they wanted to run.”

The teamwork and focus of the players was also another reason for the team’s performance.

“I thought we shared the ball well,” Lloyd said. “We want to have an idea of how to help put our teammates in a position to succeed, and I thought our guys were really conscientious of that.”

However, Lloyd hopes to see the team shoot more three-pointers and turn the ball over less. In the weekend’s first game, the Polar Bears had four turnovers less than Curry, but facing Regis, they turned the ball over four more times than the opposing team.

Captain Will Logue ’26 agreed that the intensity of the players was a major highlight from the weekend’s play.

“Thinking about last [season], if a team [went] on a run, we’d kind of shut down and either our defensive intensity [would] drop, or guys [would] start trying to do too much on offense,” Logue said. “But I think this year, we did a really good job just playing the game and not the score.”

However, Logue believes there were times in the large wins when the players got too comfortable and the intensity dropped.

“Both games, we won by 20. I think both games we probably could have won by 30,” Logue said. “We [knew] were going to win, and we kind of let off the gas a little bit.”

Over the weekend, the Polar Bears had strong performances from several first years. In the first game against Curry, Liam McBride ’28 led Bowdoin in scoring, with 15 points all in the second half. In Saturday’s game versus Regis, Ray Cuevas ’28 led the Polar Bears with 19 points.

Logue emphasized how the team’s first years have meshed with the rest of the players.

“We’re really lucky to have guys like that,” Logue said. “In practice, there’s no drop off from [anyone].… It pushes the upperclassmen to keep working and not be complacent.”

On Wednesday, Bowdoin faced off in its first home game against the University of Maine at Presque Isle (USMPI) (3–2), winning 65–53. The team will return to action on Saturday to face Emmanuel College (0–3) in Morrell Gymnasium.

The team is looking forward to the Emmanuel face-off and the rest of the season. Logue emphasized that he believes this year is different from the past seasons due to the team’s hard work.

“I feel like we’ve put in the work. I’m just gonna trust that, and I’m proud of the work that the team has put in. Whatever happens, happens, and I think it’ll be a fun year, regardless,” Logue said.

McBride agreed with Logue, saying that hard work going forward is necessary.

“I think we have a very strong group this year, and we have all of the pieces needed to beat any team on our schedule,” McBride wrote in an email to the Orient. “If we stay together, consistently play harder than the other team and control all of the controllables, we should have a successful season.”

And though the team has a long way to go, Lloyd is excited for the road ahead.

“I think we have a great group, and we have a really good schedule,” Lloyd said. “I think we have the opportunity to just keep building heading through this semester.”

Even though the team won’t begin NESCAC conference play until January, he says that these early games are just as important.

“Our season is so short that I think every game is really important,” Lloyd said. “These games are part of us growing as a group, and so they’re great opportunities.”