By Sun Journal staff

AMHERST, Mass. – Zak Ray drained 17 points and had six assists to lead Bates to a 60-54 victory over Tufts in men’s basketball Saturday.

Elliott Linsley had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Jon Furbush also chipped in with 11 and three 3-pointers for the Bobcats (19-7).

With the win, the Bobcats advance to the NESCAC Tournament title game for the first time in school history.

Tufts’ (16-10) Reggie Stovell led all scorers with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Finlandia 80, St. Joe’s 71

STANDISH – Sophomore Ryan Artley scored a game-high 24 points and dished out seven assists to pace Finlandia University to an 80-71 win over St. Joseph’s College in the consolation round of the Association of Division III Independents Regional Championship on Saturday.

The Lions’ (14-3) Victor Harrington added 17 points while Tyler Lloyd chipped in with 16 in the win.

The Monks were led by Jon Pratt with 22 points while Marcus Alexander added 14 points.

New Jersey City University took home the top honors with a 92-82 win over Lincoln University.

Women’s basketball

Maine 75, Vermont 61

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Ashley Underwood led a well balanced scoring attack for the University of Maine, dropping in 15 points as the Black Bears (18-8, 14-2) handed the University of Vermont a 75-61 setback in women’s basketball action.

The Black Bears placed six different players in double digits with Underwood leading the way.

Abby Schrader added 14, Missy Traversi chipped in with 13 while Monica Peterson (12) Bracey Barker (11), and Kim Corbitt (10) rounded out the onslaught.

St. Joe’s 70, Newbury 67

STANDISH – Val Dumais poured in 25 points to lead St. Joseph’s College to a 70-67 win over Newbury College in women’s play Saturday.

The Monks (16-11) took a 34-26 lead into the intermission and then held on to survive the second half surge by Newbury.

Margaret Blauvelt and Laura Pelky added 14 and 11 points in the win.

USM 68, Keene State 29

GORHAM – Megan Myles poured in a game-high 18 points to lead the University of Southern Maine to a 68-29 victory over Keene State in women’s basketball on Saturday.

Ashley Marble also chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Huskies (26-2). USM played outstanding defense in the second half, holding Keene State to just eight points. Stacey Morse led Keene State (17-11) with seven points.

Hockey

Maine 5, UMass-Lowell 3

The Maine men’s ice hockey team clinched home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals on Senior Night with a 5-3 win over UMass-Lowell on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,641 fans at Alfond Arena.

The Riverhawks had a 2-1 lead in the second period before goals by Derek Damon and John Ronan gave Maine a 3-2 lead going into the third period. The Black Bears added goals by Brent Shepheard and Michel Lveill for the 5-3 final.

Colby 7, Williams 0

WATERVILLE – Patrick Walsh and Cory Ernst scored two goals apiece to lead Colby to a 7-0 victory over Williams in a New England Small College Athletic Conference hockey quarterfinals matchup.

Patrick Rutherford netted a goal and had two assists while Arthur Fritch had three assists for the White Mules (15-7-2). Colby’s goalkeeper Chris Ries made 23 saves for the shutout.

Bowdoin 6, Amherst 4

BRUNSWICK – Bowdoin scored all six of their goals in the first two periods to knock off fifth-seeded Amherst in the NESCAC quarterfinals Saturday.

Greg McConnell scored a goal and had an assist for the Polar Bears (16-5-3). Bowdoin had six different goal scorers.

AJ Greco led Amherst with a goal and an assist for Amherst (13-10-2).

USM 6, Skidmore 1

GORHAM – Matt Mendoza and Brian Collins each netted a pair of goals to lead the University of Southern Maine to a 6-1 victory over Skidmore College in the first round of the ECAC East hockey playoffs on Saturday.

Jon Lounsbury also added four assists for the Huskies (15-9-2). Steve Martorana netted the lone goal for Skidmore.

(6-19-1) on a pass from Tom Spinella.