Bates' Brian Gerrity launched a long-range tying attempt from behind half court as time expired, but the shot rattled off the rafters and fell to the floor, giving Williams the 86-83 final.
Bates trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second half, but the Victor Rivera '05 (New York, N.Y.) capped a 15-2 run with a pair of free throws with 7:55 remaining to give Bates a 67-65 lead, the first for the Bobates since holding a 5-2 advantage in the opening minutes of the first half.
Tucker Kain gave the Ephs the lead on the next trip down the floor, converting a 3-point play. After stopping the Bobcats on defense, Crotty hit one of his four 3-point shots to push the lead to four points.
The Ephs looked like they had taken command of the game when Jaris Cole hit an off-balance jump shot to give Williams an 80-73 lead with less than three minutes remaining, but Brian Gerrity cut the lead to two points, getting free for an open 3-point shot to cut the lead to 82-80 with 1:10 remaining.
Ben Coffin gave Williams a four-point lead with a medium range jumper on the next trip down the floor, but Bates cut the lead to one point when Jon Furbush got an offensive rebound, dribbled outside the arc and hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds to play. The Ephs inbounded the ball and stayed out of the Bates defenders' reach, running nearly six seconds off the clock before Zak Ray dove and fouled Crotty with 2.2 seconds to play.
Coffin led the Ephs, scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds. Crotty added 16 points and six assists for Williams, which improved to 22-1, 8-0 NESCAC. Kain scored 14 points for the Ephs, while Chuck Abba added 13, hitting all five of his shots from the floor.
Gerrity '05 (Augusta, Maine) led all scorers with 24 points, going 6-for-10 from 3-point range. Furbush '05 (South Portland, Maine) added 10 points, and Elliott Linsley '05 (Murrieta, Calif.) scored 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds for Bobcats, who fell to 16-7, 4-4 NESCAC. Ray '07 (Bangor, Maine) scored seven points, had six assists and grabbed five rebounds for Bates.
Williams will face Tufts on Saturday afternoon, while Bates closes the regular season against Middlebury at 3 p.m. in Alumni Gymnasium. The Bobcats have claimed at least the No. 6 seed in the NESCAC Championship, but would move up to fifth with a win over the Panthers and a Wesleyan loss to Amherst.
Newspaper Box Score Williams vs Bates 02/13/04 7:00 p.m. at Lewiston, Maine At Lewiston, Maine WILLIAMS 86, BATES 83 WILLIAMS (22-1, 8-0 NESCAC) Ben Coffin 7-14 5-6 19; Michael Crotty 5-13 2-3 16; Tucker Kain 5-11 2-3 14; Chuck Abba 5-5 0-0 13; Will Kuntz 2-4 5-5 9; Mike Graham 2-6 2-2 6; Casey Gibbons 2-4 0-0 5; Jaris Cole 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 30-64 16-19 86. BATES (16-7, 4-4 NESCAC) Brian Gerrity 9-19 0-0 24; Elliott Linsley 5-5 0-1 10; Jon Furbush 3-9 2-3 10; Ramon Garcia 3-6 1-4 9; Matt Chudomel 3-8 2-2 8; Rob Stockwell 3-6 2-2 8; Zak Ray 1-5 5-6 7; Victor Rivera 1-2 3-4 5; Damon McGinn 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-61 15-22 83. Williams...................... 44 42 - 86 Bates......................... 37 46 - 83 3-point goals-Williams 10-25 (Michael Crotty 4-9; Chuck Abba 3-3; Tucker Kain 2-6; Casey Gibbons 1-3; Jaris Cole 0-1; Mike Graham 0-3), Bates 10-25 (Brian Gerrity 6-10; Jon Furbush 2-7; Ramon Garcia 2-5; Rob Stockwell 0-1; Zak Ray 0-2). Fouled out--Williams-None, Bates-None. Rebounds-Williams 35 (Ben Coffin 6), Bates 38 (Victor Rivera 9). Assists-Williams 16 (Michael Crotty 6), Bates 10 (Zak Ray 6). Total fouls-Williams 17, Bates 17. A-647