LEWISTON —  The Bates women’s basketball team completed an impressive 3-0 week with a 62-49 defeat of rival Colby in the teams’ annual non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gym.

The Bobcats evened their record at 5-5, having posted wins earlier this week over the University of New England and Bowdoin.

First-year forward Chelsea Nason led a balanced Bates lineup with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 shooting at the free-throw line, to go with a game-high eight rebounds. Allaina Murphy added 12 points, 10 of them in the first half. Brianna Hawkins contributed 11 points and six boards, and Meredith Kelly posted 10 points.

Diana Manduca was the lone double-digit scorer for Colby (4-4). She led the Mules in rebounding (6) and assists (5) as well.

USM 60, Western Conn. 55

GORHAM — Senior forward Jordan Grant scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a nail-biting 60-55 win over the Western Connecticut State University Colonials in a Little East Conference women’s basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.

The win is the eighth straight for the Huskies, who remain undefeated at 8-0 and move to 2-0 in the Little East. The loss is the second straight for Western Connecticut (6-2, 1-1).

Grant, who was just 3-for-8 from the field, was a calm and collected 13-for-13 from the free throw line, including a perfect 7-for-7 in the final minutes of the game to help seal the victory. Sophomore forward Rebecca Knight added 17 points and grabbed a career-high six steals for the Huskies.

Jackie Zilnicki and Sha’Quira Palmer each scored 11 points to lead the Colonials. 

Castleton 50, Maine Maritime 47

CASTINE —  Castleton State College withstood a late Maine Maritime Academy surge to escape with a 50-47 win in a North Atlantic Conference women’s basketball game Saturday afternoon. The Spartans remained perfect at 8-0 overall, 4-0 NAC while the Mariners fell to 3-3, 2-1.

Jade Desroches scored a game-high 13 points for Castleton while Casey Everest and Leah Jackson paced Maine Maritime with 12 points each. Jackson added 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

UNE 68, St. Joe’s 57

BIDDEFORD — Forwards Beth Suggs and Kelly Coleman combined for 31 points and 24 rebounds to help lead the University of New England women’s basketball team to a 68-57 victory over St. Joseph’s College of Maine in a non-conference game played Saturday at Harold Alfond Forum.

The win snapped a two-game skid for the Nor’easters, who improved to 5-3. The Monks saw their three-game win streak come to an end as they fell to 5-2. UNE has now won the last nine meetings between the two teams.

Coleman finished with a team-best 17 points to go with 10 boards, while Suggs notched her sixth double-double of the young season with 14 points and 14 boards. Suggs has collared 11 or more rebounds in each of the Nor’easters’ eight contests. First-year point guard Meghan Gribbin added seven points and seven assists.

St. Joe’s senior Danyelle Shufelt  led all scorers with 20 points, including a 3-for-3 performance from beyond the arc. Overall, she made 6 of 8 attempts from the floor while adding six assists.

NEC 72, Thomas 53

WATERVILLE — New England College (8-2, 4-0 NAC) defeated Thomas (2-5, 1-3 NAC) 72-53 in a North Atlantic Conference women’s basketball contest at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

Thomas started the game hot by gaining a five-point advantage but New England College came back and took the lead and kept increasing it as they lead at half by 23 points. The score at half time was 49-26 in favor of the Pilgrims.

Kate Levy ended with a game-high 22 points for the Pilgrims. Emilee Reynolds ended the game with a team-high 14 points for Thomas while Megan Pelletier added 13, four assists, two blocks and seven boards. Freshman Katie McAllister  also had a career-high 11 points in the loss.

Men’s Basketball

Bates 67, Colby 57

LEWISTON — Luke Matarazzo scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half to vault the Bates men’s basketball team to a 67-57 win over Colby in the teams’ annual non-conference matchup on Saturday.

Colby led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half erased the Mules’ advantage in the first 10 minutes of the second half, and the Bobcats continued to fire on all cylinders to complete a dramatic turnaround.

Bates’ Graham Safford and Mark Brust also scored 10 points apiece in the second half, combining with Matarazzo to score 40 of Bates’ 46 points in the period, as the Bobcats outscored the Mules 46-21.

Safford finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, and after a quiet first half, Brust finished the game with 10 points and six boards. Ed Bogdanovich and Billy Selmon grabbed eight and seven rebounds, respectively, helping Bates (4-5) to a 47-32 edge on the glass.

Chris Hudnut led Colby (2-6) with 13 points and four blocked shots in the Mules’ fourth straight loss.

USM 92, Western Conn. 80

GORHAM —  Junior guard Conor Sullivan scored a game-high 18 points to lead four players in double figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies rolled to a 92-80 win over the Western Connecticut State University Colonials in a Little East Conference men’s basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.

The win is the second straight for the Huskies who improve to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Little East Conference. Western Connecticut drops to 1-7 overall and 0-2 in the LEC.

Sullivan was an outstanding 7-for-12 from the field en route to the game-high total. Senior guard Alex Kee added 17 points, while James Odneal added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Brandon Tomah added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.

Senior guard Shawn Mobilio led the Colonials with 14 points off of the bench.

St. Joe’s 75, Emerson 53

BOSTON —  Junior forward Nicholas Jobin tallied game-highs with 21 points and nine rebounds to help Saint Joseph’s (5-2, 2-1 GNAC) cruise past Emerson College (4-4, 2-1 GNAC), 75-53, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men’s basketball contest on Saturday afternoon.

First-half shooting efforts proved the difference, as the Monks shot a blistering 58 percent from the field, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range, on their way to a 41-22 halftime lead.

Thomas 93, NEC 88

WATERVILLE —  Thomas (5-2, 2-2 NAC) was able to pull off a second half comeback in a 93-88 victory over New England College (0-4, 0-9) in a North Athletic Conference (NAC)  men’s basketball contest Saturday afternoon at Mahaney Gymnasium.

New England College and Thomas battled back and forth in a first half that included four ties. The Pilgrims took the largest lead of the half when they went up by nine points but the Terriers were able to get back to a deficit of four points by halftime trailing 52-48.

Freshman Levi Barnes had 23 of his 35 points in the first half for the Terriers. Franklin Salvador added 19 points.

UMA 89, NMCC 69

PRESQUE ISLE — Andrew Pullen scored 26 points and Keith Chesley added 21 Saturday, staking the University of Maine at Augusta (5-7) to an 89-69 men’s basketball victory over Northern Maine Community College (0-5).

Walker Cooper added 18 points for the Moose. NMTC’s Matt Till erupted for 42 points, including seven 3-pointers, in the loss.

Castleton 91, MMA 71

CASTINE — Castleton State rallied from a 47-44 halftime deficit to beat Maine Maritime Academy 91-71 in a North Atlantic Conference men’s basketball game Saturday afternoon. The Spartans improved to 4-4 overall, 3-1 NAC while the Mariners’ two game winning streak was snapped and set them at 2-5, 2-1.

Four players reached double figures for Castleton, led by Logan White’s game-high 30 points. Mark Comstock added 17 for the Spartans, Dammy Mustapha finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds and Chris Barletta scored 10 points.

Ben Russell paced the Mariners with 18 points. Paul Campbell scored 16, Andy Ball 14 and Logan Poirier 13.