MEDFORD, MA – Trailing by nine at the halftime break, University of Rochester men's basketball rallied back and briefly took the lead midway through the second half, but couldn't finish off the comeback as they fell to the Bates College Bobcats, 72-62, in their second game of the UAA Challenge, hosted by Tufts University, on Sunday afternoon inside Cousens Gymnasium on Tye Court.
 
After Babacar Pouye broke the seal for the Bobcats, Bennett Kwiecinski got the Yellowjackets on the scoreboard just under a minute-and-a-half into the first, with a jumper and free throw less than a minute later to give UR its first lead of the night, 3-2.
 
Rochester scored 10 of the first 14 points of the first half, retaking the lead on Ethan McEachern's triple before layups from Logan Jagodzinski and Camden Fleming made it a 10-4 'Jacket advantage with 14:35 to play in the first half, what would end up being the Yellowjackets' largest lead of the night.

Bates ended its nearly three-minute scoring drought with a three-pointer from Cole Decker, tying the score at 10-all just over a minute later when Jahmir Primer went 1-for-2 at the free throw line.
 
Decker added five more points as the Bobcats stretched their lead out to seven, 18-11, with under 10 to play in the first, answering UR's 10-4 run to open the contest with a 14-1 run of their own over the next 4:50.
 
Rochester then responded with an 8-0 run of their own, retaking the lead on Nate Sock's layup with 7:06 left in the first, as layups from the graduate student, Jagodzinski, McEachern and Luke Razi put UR back in front.
 
However, once again the Bobcats answered with a run, this time hitting a pair of three-pointers as part of a 12-0 run over the next five-plus minutes, before taking a 32-23 lead at the halftime break.
 
The Yellowjackets shot just 30 percent (9-for-30) in the first half, while Bates shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26), and knocked down five three-pointers, compared to just one for UR.
 
However, UR started to turn the tide to start the second half, with McEachern and Kwiecinski hitting from distance to pull Rochester with three, 32-29 to start the second.
 
Back down by seven after a quick five points from Bates, UR locked down on defense over the next five minutes, holding the Bobcats to just four points on 2-for-5 shooting while forcing three turnovers. The 'Jackets went on a 15-4 run to turn a 37-29 deficit at the 17:18 mark of the second into a three-point, 44-41 lead with just under 11 minutes to play.
 
Seven points from Jagodzinski keyed the 'Jackets' run, which Theo Murray capped off with a layup from Savvas Gonatas to give UR a three-point advantage.
 
UR led by three for much of the next two minutes until Bates retook the lead with three-straight layups from Decker and Peter Psychogeos with just over nine minutes to play. Decker's layup with 9:11 left gave Bates a 51-48 lead, and while UR twice cut the deficit down to one over the next three minutes, they couldn't find a way to tie things up or take the lead.
 
After five-straight points from Pouye made it a nine-point Bobcats lead, Sock matched Pouye's made three-pointer with one of his own at the other end, pulling UR within six. However, that'd be as close as Rochester would get the rest of the way, with Psyhogeos hitting all six of his free throws down the stretch to seal the eventual 72-62 win for Bates.
 
With the loss, Rochester drops to 6-4 on the year, while the Bobcats move to 4-5 with the win.
 
Jagodzinski led the Yellowjackets with 18 points, falling a rebound shy of a double-double with nine rebounds, adding three steals, an assist and a block. Razi joined Jagodzinski in double figures with a career-high 10 points, while Kwiecinski and McEachern each tallied eight points.
 
For the contest, UR shot 43.9 percent but just 28.6 percent (4-for-14) from deep and 8-for-16 from the line, while Bates shot 42.9 percent overall and 29.2 percent (7-for-24) from three-point range and 17-for-21 from the free-throw line.
 
Following the holiday break, the Yellowjackets next head to San Antonio, TX for a matchup against Trinity University (TX) on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 1:00 p.m. CT.