How sweet it is!

Bates College men’s basketball advanced to the NCAA Division III men’s basketball Sweet 16 for the first time in school history Saturday night, beating host Stockton of Galloway, N.J., 68-59 in overtime.

The Bobcats (21-6) knocked out St. Vincent on Friday. They’ll move on to face a more familiar foe, NESCAC rival Trinity, in the third round next Friday, March 13, at a site to be determined. A berth in the sectional final will be at stake.

Junior Mike Boornazian continued his torrid shooting, leading Bates with 18 points and seven rebounds. He also was 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.

Malcolm Delpeche, a sophomore, added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Graham Safford chipped in 14 points and was 5-for-6 from the line.

Adam Philpott had eight points and Marcus Delpeche yanked down 10 boards for the Bobcats.

Anthony Woodard sparked a late comeback for Stockton (23-6) and led the Ospreys with 17 points. Josh Blamon finished with 14 and Armin Cane had 10.

Bates scored the final 10 points in overtime.

Safford’s two free throws gave the Bobcats the lead for good, 60-59, with 2:27 left. That followed an exchange in which Safford supplied the lead with a 3-pointer and Woodward took it back on a layup.

Billy Selmon added a free throw and Marcus Delpeche delivered a putback dunk for a 63-59 cushion with 26 seconds to go, before the Bobcats pulled away at the line.

Boornazian’s 3-pointer gave Bates a 55-51 lead with 2:58 left in regulation.

The Bobcats went cold, however, and were kept off the board until the horn. Woodward closed the gap with two free throws, and his layup forced overtime.

Bates jumped out to a 10-0 lead and was up by as many as 16 in the first half. It was 33-23 at intermission.

Defensively, the Bobcats harassed the Ospreys into 4-for-29 shooting from 3-point range. They also won the battle on the boards for the second consecutive night by a 48-34 margin.

The Bobcats trailed for only 1:49 in the game.

Baseball

Florida 6, Maine 1

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Luke Morrill homered and Scott Heath went six innings on the mound, but the University of Maine baseball team fell to No. 2 Florida 6-1 on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville, Fla.

Maine falls to 4-11 on the season while second-ranked Florida improves to 13-2.

Florida struck with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. JJ Schwanz singled to center field and Josh Tobias followed with a single up the middle. Mike Rivera reached on an infield single and moved to second on an error, while Schwanz scored on the play. Ryan Lawson walked to load the bases. Buddy Reed followed with a bases clearing double to give the Gators a 4-0 lead.

Track

Enos launches record weight throw

NEW YORK — Bates College senior Sean Enos broke former teammate David Pless’s school record and former Bobcat Chris Murtagh’s ECAC record in the weight throw, leading the Bobcats to fifth place out of 56 scoring teams at the ECAC Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at the 168th Street Armory.

Enos heaved the 35-pound weight over the 20-meter mark twice and topped out at 20.17 meters, or 66 feet and 2.25 inches, which stands as the seventh-farthest single weight throw in Division III history.

Enos also won the ECAC shot put title on Friday (58-4), and has swept both throwing events in four straight championship meets: State of Maine, New England Division III, Open New Englands and ECACs.

Enos scored 20 of Bates’ 37 points at the meet, only five shy of meet winner Amherst.

Desmond, Ruginski win ECAC titles

NEW YORK CITY — Seniors Kevin Desmond of Monmouth and Jamie Ruginski won individual titles Saturday to lead the University of Southern Maine men’s indoor track field team to an eighth-place finish at the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Division III Championships held Friday and Saturday at the New Balance Track and Field Center.

Desmond won the 800-meter title with his time of 1 minute, 52.72 s econds.

Men’s lacrosse

Wesleyan 10, Bates 7

LEWISTON — The Bates men’s lacrosse team pulled to within two with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell to Wesleyan University, 10-7 at Garcelon Field on Saturday afternoon.

Wesleyan University’s Matt Preziosa led all scores with five goals in eight shots for the Cardinals, while sophomore Kyle Weber led the Bobcats with two goals on the day.

Defensively, junior Joe Faria recorded ten goals for Bates while defender Ken O’Friel led the Bobcats with six ground balls. Bates won the ground ball battle, 33-28.

Rivier 19, UMF 1

NASHUA, N.H. — The University of Maine at Farmington men’s lacrosse team (0-1) opened the 2015 campaign with a tough, 19-1, non-conference loss to Rivier University (4-0) at Raider Field on Saturday afternoon.

Cameron McAllister ruined the shutout with 8:25 minutes left in the game and scored the Beavers’ first goal of the season.

The Raiders opened the first quarter with seven goals and 13 in the opening half. UMF played stronger in the second half but could not close the gap any further. Kevin Dembkoski led the way for Rivier with three goals and one assist.

Women’s basketball

Bowdoin 71, Ithaca 66

BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College women’s basketball team closed the game on a 11-0 run to shock Ithaca College, 71-66, in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.

Sophomore Marle Curle hit a pair of huge three-pointers to help the Polar Bears (25-4) rally from a seven-point deficit with under four minutes to play to advance to their 11th “Sweet Sixteen” and first since 2012. The Bombers finish a fantastic season with a record of 23-6.

Bowdoin advances to play Montclair (N.J.) State in the Sectional semifinals next Friday evening. Sectional sites will be announced on Sunday.

Curle hit a game-tying and go-ahead three-pointer to finish with a career-high 23 points. She also had five rebounds and four steals, including a swipe with under two minutes to go with the game tied at 66. Shannon Brady scored 21 points and had five rebounds and five blocks in the win for Bowdoin while Kate Kerrigan had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Ithaca featured a balanced attack that was led by 14 points from Samantha Klie, who also had four assists. Alex Gilligan and Keri Steele had a dozen points for the Bombers while Ally Mnich had 11.