Bates Gets Past Salem State 93-73

SALEM, Mass. – Kody Greenhalgh (Warwick, R.I) scored a team-high 17 points and added five rebounds and five assists while Andrew Snoddy (Stow, Mass.) and Jeff Spellman (Boston, Mass.) combined for 31 points and 13 rebounds as Bates earned a 93-73 victory over Salem State on Sunday afternoon at Twohig Gymnasium. The Bobcats improve to 1-2 on the year while the Vikings slip to 2-4.

Sean Bryan (Lowell, Mass.) and Hakeem Animashaun (Dedham, Mass.) each had 22 points for Salem State while Animashaun secured a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Vikings built a 43-40 halftime lead behind 15 points from Animashaun and 14 points by Bryan. The game remained close over the first ten minutes of action before Greenhalgh sparked Bates with seven first half points off the bench, and his layup at the 7:59 mark gave the Bobcats a 24-19 lead. Trailing by six, Animashaun converted a layup and free throw to cut the deficit in half before Bryan tied the game with his only three-pointer as the Vikings closed the first on a 15-6 run. Bryan put the Vikings on top with a three-point play in the final seconds while Bates missed on the front-end of a one-and-one with less than a second on the clock that would have drew the Bobcats closer.

Spellman led Bates with nine first half points as Bates converted on 48.6% (17-35) of their field goal attempts. The Vikings were 50% (15-30) from the floor, but he two teams combined went just 5-23 (21.7%) from behind the arc.

Five straight points by James Mortimer (Sudbury, Mass.) broke open a close game as Bates led 62-55 with 10:38 remaining in the second half. Salem State came back with a 6-0 spurt, to pull within a point at 62-61. However, the Vikings went cold from the floor, as they managed just five points over a five minute span as the Bobcats increased their lead to 82-66 with 3:11 left.

Greenhalgh had 10 points, going four-of-six from the field after halftime, while Mortimer had 12 points on 4-5 shooting after the break to end with 14. 

A Snoddy dunk gave Bates its largest lead of game, 89-69 with just over a minute remaining as the Bobcats settled for a 20-point victory. The Vikings were just 11-28 (39.3%) from the field in the second half and committed 19 turnovers, with 11 coming after halftime. Bates was an effective 20-30 (66.7%) from the field in the second half, including 7-11 (63.6%) from three-point range.