Facing Bates in a thunderous Alumni Gymnasium, the men's basketball team saw its season come to an abrupt end, losing the NESCAC quarterfinal matchup by a final score of 80-64.
The lopsided score came as a surprise to both Bates' supporters and the Bowdoin faithful in attendance, as the teams were separated by a total of just eight points in their two previous matchups, including an overtime thriller in Alumni Gymnasium a month earlier.
In the first half, the Polar Bears were unable to calm a raucous crowd, allowing Bates to sprint out to an early lead. Undone by a combination of poor shot selection and strong defensive pressure from the Bobcats, the Polar Bears found themselves in a 19-point halftime hole.
In the second half, Bates proved more than capable of holding onto its halftime advantage, as the Bobcats extended their lead to 20 with 16:35 left to play.
In a final attempt to get back in the game, the Polar Bears employed a full-court press for most of the second half. The strategy began to pay off, as Will Hanley '12 and Ryan O'Connell '12 hit a pair of threes to bring the Polar Bears within 18 points of their rivals. The late rally continued as seniors Mark Phillips '10 and Paul Sellew '10 hit buckets to bring the score to 66-52 with just over four minutes to play.
The Polar Bears' momentum was quickly negated when Bates forward Ryan Weston scored on a putback attempt with under three minutes to play to pad the lead back to 16.
Bowdoin would get no closer, and Bates improved to 14-11 with the victory and advanced to the semifinals.
In his final game at Bowdoin, Phillips became the 20th player in Bowdoin history to score over 1,000 points, finishing with exactly 1,001 for his career.
While noting he would have much rather had the victory, Philips understood the importance of breaking the 1,000-point threshold, calling it "a great accomplishment."
In spite of the loss, the Polar Bears finished the season with a winning record at 13-12 and the confidence that they will continue to improve.
"We're going to miss the guys who are graduating this year, but I'm excited about the future of this team," said Hanley. "We have a lot of very good players returning next year, so if we put in the work I have no doubt that we will build off of this year and be even more successful in the future."