WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (3-0) played its second game of a three game homestand on Saturday afternoon and overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Bates (0-1) 68-63 from inside the Kneller Gymnasium in a non-conference matchup.

Coach Simms' Thoughts

"Our guys really played hard and competed against a very good and well coached Bates team today," said head coach Tyler Simms following the win. Especially when we weren't shooting it well, several guys stepped up on both ends of the floor to make plays down the stretch. We also feed off the energy of the Kneller, which helped our press in turn force 24 turnovers. We're looking forward to another great crowd on Wednesday at 7pm vs. New England College!"

How it Happened

• Senior Zackary Mittelstadt came out firing early as he connected on a pair of early triples and sophomore Bruce Saintilus hit a jumper to give Clark an 8-6 lead with 15:23 to go in the first half before Bates took the lead at 20-14 with 9:38 left in the first despite baskets from graduate students Matthew Waggett and Biko Gayman and Saintilus.
• The Bobcats then went on a 9-4 run over the next three minutes before Gayman and Saintilus added two more points apiece to pull within seven at 29-22 with 3:36 remaining in the first half.
• Gayman netted the Cougars final bucket of the first half as the scarlet and white trailed 32-25 after one half of play.
• Clark brought the defensive energy and effort early as the held Bates without a bucket over the first 3:51 of the half and went on an 8-0 sparked by six points from graduate student Tyler Davern and a pair of Gayman free throws as Clark led 33-32 with 16:14 to play.
• Bates regained the lead with 16:05 to go in the second and first-year Isaiah Taylor connected on a three with 12:36 to go off a nice feed from senior Gralen Vereen as Clark trailed 40-39.
• The Bobcats extended the lead to 49-44 with 9:40 left before Gayman, Saintilus, and Taylor all added two points to give Clark a 50-49 advantage with 7:28 to go.
• The teams then traded baskets over the next 3:24 and Bates took a 59-56 lead off a layup before Saintilus knocked down a critical and-one three pointer with 3:12 and connected on the free throw as Clark led 60-59.
• After Bates regained the lead, Saintilus connected on another three-pointer off a pass from Gayman as Clark led 63-61and a pair of Taylor free throws pushed the lead to four with 1:51 to go.
• Stephon Baxter of Bates made a layup to get within two at 65-63 with 1:29 remaining before the Cougars defense was able to shut down the Bobcats as that was their final points of the game and Gayman connected on three crucial free throws as Clark won 68-63.

Inside the Box Score

• Saintilus led the team with 19 points and shot 7-13 from the floor, while grabbing five rebounds.
• Gayman added 18 points on 5-11 shooting and dished out three assists.
• Taylor netted nine points, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and recorded five steals.
• Mittelstadt and Davern each added eight and seven points respectively.
• Six Cougars scored in the contest and the team hit six three-pointers.
• Clark grabbed 29 rebounds, shot 37.7 percent from the floor, shot 80.0 percent from the line, dished out 11 assists, and recorded 13 steals.

What's Next

The Cougars will play their final game of a three game homestand when they welcome New England College to the Kneller for a contest beginning at 7:00 p.m.