That’s all the Bobcats have really been able to do during the preseason, but Friday night, Bates got to see the kind of action its been craving.

“We’ve been beating up on each other the whole preseason,” said junior guard Luke Matarazzo. “So it’s nice to get out there and play together.”

Bates hosted its Tip-Off Tournament opener  Friday night and kicked off the current campaign with a strong showing in a 83-43 win over the University of Maine at Augusta.

“Our guys were just hungry to play someone other than themselves,” said Bates coach Jon Furbush. “After the last two weeks of practice, they were just ready to play together. I thought we played well for the most part.”

Bates opened a two-point lead midway through the first half with eight straight points and a 13-5 run. That made it 37-24 at the half. Then the Bobcats blew the game open in the second half scoring 14 straight at one point.

“We’re really trying to use our ball pressure defense and let our defense lead into our offense as opposed to the other way around,” said Furbush. “We forced some turnovers and got some “D” boards. We’re really trying to transition this year. So we’re able to get a lot of easy buckets.”

Ed Bogdanovich led Bates with 21 points and eight rebounds. Matarazzo added 17 points while Mark Brust had 16 points. UMA (0-3) got 13 from Walker Cooper and 11 from Andrew Pullen.

Matarazzo helps spark the run in the first half. He scored 11 straight points for Bates to help build a 32-22 lead. That was after UMA had closed the lead to 19-17 with 9:58 left in the half.

“We have a good team,” said Matarazzo. “We’re not very big, but when we play together and we’re running, we all feed off each other.”

Matarazzo was aggressive on both ends of the court to help give the Bobcat momentum a charge. After a Brust drive, Matarazzo hit a short jumper and then scored on a drive to the hoop. He then put back a rebound to make it 27-17 with 6:43 left. After Cooper hit a 3, Matarazzo scored on a fast break and added a 3 of his own for the 32-22 lead. A Bogdanovich three-point play and two free throws by Brust made it 37-24 at the half.

“It’s a different dynamic because we were a little bigger last year,” said Matarazzo. “This year, we’re a little smaller. Once we get into the flow. Everything starts coming together.”

Bates built on the success it had late in the first half. UMA got within 42-28, but the Bobcat defense shut them down to spark the 14 straight points and 54-28 lead.

“It really starts with our defense,” said Matarazzo. “The second half we played much better “D”.

UMA shot just 9-for-31 in the second half while Bates hit 10 0f its first 15 shots in the second half.

“We just got some flow and some rhythm going,” said Furbush. “Guys were shooting with confidence. We were turning down good shots for great shots and trying to play a little more unselfish.”

Bates will play Emerson Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the finale of the the weekend.

Emerson 62, Fisher 48

LEWISTON — James Rhodes scored 16 points while Michael Thorpe added 13 to lead Emerson College to a season-opening win over Fisher Friday at Bates College.

Emerson advances to Saturday’s 4 p.m. championship game of the Bates Tip-off Classic. Emerson will play the host Bobcats. Fisher and the University of Maine at Augusta play at 2 p.m. in the consolation game.

 Patrick Lowndes added eight points while six other Lions chipped in. Fisher (3-1) got 24 from Ryan McCorkle and seven from Sam Nwadike.

Emerson built a 25-23 lead in the first half. The Lions used a strong start to the second half to open the lead. Fisher trailed by double digits for much of the half but got within striking distance late, but Emerson  finished off the win.

McCorkle added 10 rebounds for Fisher. Jon Goldberg had 15 boards for Emerson.

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