Brunswick, Maine - The Bowdoin College Polar Bears men's basketball team connected on 59.5% of their shots for the game en route to a 60-56 win over the visiting Trinity College Bantams this afternoon at Morrell Gymnasium.  The Polar Bears improve to 10-7 overall and 3-2 in the NESCAC, while the Bantams fall to 9-10 overall and 2-3 in the league.

Bowdoin was red hot in the opening stanza after briefly falling behind in the early going. The Polar Bears hit on 65% of their attempts and got six points apiece from subs Ryan O'Connell and Maximillian Staiger to take a 36-29 lead into the break.  Bowdoin never trailed in the second half, but the Bantams got within one possession on seven occasions with each opportunity swept aside by the hosts. Trinity was able to chip away at the lead thanks to 14 second-half free throws and 12 offensive rebounds which led directly to eight points for the visitors.

The Bantams drew within a single point at the three minute mark thanks to a pair of freebies from Salah Abdo, but Mark Phillips answered for Bowdoin on the other hand with a bank-shot off glass to regain a three-point advantage. Trinity missed their final nine shots from the field, however, as the Polar Bears iced the win with a Phillips free throw with under 10 seconds remaining.

Phillips led Bowdoin with 15 points and three steals while Paul Sellew scored 14. Will Hanley scored 13 points, 10 rebounds and had five blocks for the hosts, who also got 10 key points off the bench from O'Connell. Luke MacDougall was the lone Bantam in double figures with 11 points on the afternoon as Trinity shot 34% for the game and just 2-18 (11.1%) from three-point range.

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