BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College men’s basketball team held off a furious late rally to defeat the University of Southern Maine on Sunday evening at Morrell Gymnasium, 84-81.

The Polar Bears (6-3), who led by 17 with 6:16 to go, won their fourth consecutive game to finish the first semester. The Huskies (3-6) lost their third straight contest to enter break.

The teams traded blows in a back-and-forth opening half. Jayvon Pitts-Young’s 11 points led USM to a late lead in the period, but a buzzer-beating lay-in by Bowdoin’s Taiga Kagitomi evened the score at 32 at the break.

A Jack Simonds 3-pointer sparked an 18-4 Bowdoin run to start the second period as the Polar Bears seemingly put the game away, holding a 50-36 lead midway through the frame. Bowdoin posted its largest lead of the contest, 69-52, following a Stephen Ferraro floater with 6:16 on the clock.

The Huskies caught fire from the field and took advantage of several Bowdoin miscues to close the gap in the final moments. USM hit seven treys in the final six minutes, not including three free throws on a foul from beyond the arc.

Pitts-Young’s 30th point of the night on a 3-pointer with nine seconds left trimmed Bowdoin’s lead to 83-78 and after a Bowdoin turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass, and Christian McCue netted a trey from the wing with seven seconds on the clock to cut the lead to 83-81.

An offensive foul on the next Bowdoin inbounds put USM on the line with a chance to tie with three seconds left, but McCue missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and Hugh O’Neil seized the rebound. O’Neil connected on 1-of-2 from the line and a desperation heave by McCue at the buzzer sailed wide as Bowdoin clung to the three-point win.

All five Bowdoin starters saw double figures, led by 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists from Simonds. Zavier Rucker had 11 points and nine assists for Bowdoin. O’Neil (16), David Reynolds (15) and Stephen Ferraro (10) all saw double digits for the Polar Bears.

Pitts-Young was outstanding for USM, connecting on 12-of-18 from the field to end with a game-high 30 points in the loss. McCue had 18 points for the Huskies.

Bowdoin will return to action on Dec. 30 at Brandeis (2 p.m.).

Women’s basketball

Bowdoin scored a school-record 63 points in the first half and coasted to a 107-53 win over Bates on Saturday in Morrell Gymnasium.

The top-ranked Polar Bears finished the first semester with an 8-0 record and average margin of victory of 42.2 points. The Bobcats fell to 3-3. The teams will play their NESCAC conference game in Lewiston on Jan. 4.

The Polar Bears put the contest out of reach early, hitting their first four shots and taking a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Bowdoin led 23-3 less than six minutes into the game and held a 28-10 lead after one period.

The Polar Bears continued their red-hot shooting in the second quarter, outscoring Bates 35-7 and connected on 66-percent from the field.

In all, Bowdoin shot 60-percent from the field in the first half and 72.7-percent (8-of-11) from 3-point range to hold a 63-17 advantage at halftime. The 63 first-half points were a Bowdoin school record, breaking the mark of 58 set against Maine-Farmington in 2016. The Polar Bears stretched the lead to as many as 58 points in the second half.

As prolific as Bowdoin’s offense was, the Polar Bears also held Bates to just 31-percent from the field and forced 14 turnovers while also holding a 53-27 advantage in rebounding. Thirteen different Polar Bears scored, including five in double-figures. Taylor Choate scored a game-high 15 points, while Moira Train added 11 points off the bench. Sela Kay, Maddie Hasson and Abby Kelly each added 10 points in the victory. Kelly also added a game-high eight rebounds, while Kay and Samantha Roy had four assist each.

Bates was led by 12 points from Mia Roy. Amaari Williams had 11 points and six rebounds for the Bobcats.

Bowdoin is off until late December when it hosts the Bowdoin Invitational Dec. 29-30 inside Morrell Gymnasium. The first day will feature Bowdoin-Wheaton (4 p.m.) followed by Maine Maritime Academy-Cedar Crest (6 p.m.).

Men’s hockey

Bowdoin scored five unanswered goals in the final two periods to cruise to a 5-2 victory over host Connecticut College on Saturday.

The Polar Bears climbed to 4-4-1 (2-2-1 NESCAC). The Camels are still winless in the conference at 2-6-1 (0-5-1 NESCAC).

The Camels took a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes of action. AJ Wallace scored 9:13 into the game and Paul Capozzi extended the lead six minutes later.

Bowdoin chipped away at Connecticut’s lead with a power-play goal from Ronnie Lestan at 3:11 in the second. Austin Ricci tied the game with another power play goal at 12:28. Sam Topham and Cody Todesco recorded helpers on Lestan’s goal, while Thomas Dunleavy and Kyle Jadatz tallied points on Ricci’s.

Todesco scored his first of three goals with a solo effort in the final 30 seconds of the second period. Todesco put a pair of shots in the net in the third, beginning at 13:40 off feeds from Ricci and Chris Wallace. He capped the game with an empty netter in the final 36 seconds.

Erik Wurman collected the win with a 31-save performance.

Bowdoin suffered a 6-1 NESCAC setback to Tufts on Friday evening at Medford, Massachusetts.

The Polar Bears fell behind early and were unable to climb out of the hole. Tufts (4-4-0, 2-3-0 NESCAC) recorded a pair of power-play goals and a short-handed tally.

Bowdoin went 0-for-8 on the power play. Tufts went 2-for-6. Tyler Scroggins dished out five assists for the Jumbos.

Wurman made five saves in the first period before Alex Zafonte played the final 40 minutes with 29 stops. Drew Hotte made 32 saves.

The Polar Bears return to action on Jan. 4 at Amherst.

Women’s hockey

The University of New England held off late pressure from the Polar Bears to earn a 2-1 win over the hosts on Saturday afternoon at Sidney J. Watson Arena.

The Nor’easters climbed to 10-2-1, while dropping the Polar Bears to 0-7-1.

The Polar Bears took a 1-0 lead 11:46 into the first period. Izzi Stoddard pushed a pass to Katie Leininger from just outside Bowdoin’s own zone. Leininger skated straight towards Julia Benjamin and put a shot over her blocker.

The Nor’easters evened the game in the final six seconds to send the teams into the first intermission tied. Julianne Sheehan skated through the defense on the right side and wristed a puck up and over Sophia Lattanzio.

Seconds into a power play in the final frame, UNE took the lead. Shannon Nadeau fired a shot from the left point towards Marykate Drinkwater on the far post. Drinkwater deflected the puck up to Sheehan who put it away at 9:26.

Bowdoin earned a power play in the final minutes of the game and pulled Lattanzio, but was unable to find the net with the extra skaters. Lattanzio made 18 stops.

The Polar Bears are off until Dec. 31 when they host Lake Forest at 3 p.m.

Squash

The Bowdoin men picked up its first victory of the season in a dramatic come-from-behind 5-4 win over Tufts on Saturday afternoon at the Lubin Center.

The Polar Bears (1-2) are ranked 26th in the latest national poll.

The Polar Bears got on the board with early wins from Tyler Shonrock (3-0), John Milligan (3-1) and Satya Butler (3-2). Tufts maintained a 4-3 lead with two matches remaining at No. 1 and No. 4.

Ian Squiers tied it up for Bowdoin with a 3-2 win at No. 1 (2-11, 11-4, 11-9, 2-11, 11-8).

Carson Claar, who was down 0-2 in his match at No. 4, rallied to clinch it for the Polar Bears with a dramatic 8-11, 4-11 ,11-8, 11-7, 11-8 victory.

In women’s play, Tufts rolled to a 9-0 win over the Polar Bears, who fell to 0-3.

Clio Bersani dropped a tight 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 decision at the No. 1 spot for the Polar Bears. Melissa Horan fell 11-9, 11-2, 11-5 at No. 3.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Jan. 9 against Wesleyan.

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