LEWISTON — A pair of newcomers led the way as the Bates College men’s basketball team opened its 2011-12 season with a 71-69 victory over the University of Maine at Fort Kent at Alumni Gymnasium in the first game of the three-team Bates Tipoff Classic on Friday night.

Bates junior Ed Bogdanovich, whose collegiate experience until now has been limited by injuries to six games in his freshman season, scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bobcats (1-0). First-year guard Graham Safford debuted with 13 points and set a program record in his college debut with eight steals.

Junior guard Mark Brust also scored 13 points for Bates, while senior captain Reid Christian added 10 points and a career-high six rebounds.

Sophomore guard Luke Matarazzo dished out a career-high six assists.

UMFK overcame a 14-2 disadvantage in turnovers in the first half to lead 33-31 at intermission thanks to a 27-9 edge on the boards and a team field goal percentage of .650 (13-20).

Bates bounced back to win the rebounding category in the second half, 21-20, while the Bengals took better care of the ball in the second period, with seven giveaways.

Bowdoin 72, UMF 38

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — The Bowdoin College men’s basketball team defeated the University of Maine-Farmington, 72-38, in the first game of the 2011 Hampton Inn Classic at the Tripp Athletic Center Friday night.

The Polar Bears opened the game on a 19-2 run and closed the first half on a 13-0 run to claim a commanding 44-11 lead at the break. Ryan O’Connell led the first barrage for Bowdoin with 11 points, including 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Yusuf Iman paced the Beavers with six points in the opening half. The Polar Bears outrebounded the Beavers 27-12 and held UMF to 16 percent from the field on 5 of 31 shooting.

 The Beavers would get as close as 53-24 in the second half on a three-pointer by Garrett Clemmer but eventually Bowdoin would increase their lead to as much as 66-30 on a three-pointer of their own by Wyatt Littles, en route to the victory.

Women’s basketball

UMF 54, UMPI 47

FARMINGTON — Lindsay Ranquist scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds as the Beavers came back to knock off the Owls 54-47 in the second game.

UMF trailed 35-23 with 15:01 left in the second half before reeling off the game’s next nine points to get back into the game with a Mallory Bonnevie 3-pointer making it 35-32. The Owls pushed back to a seven-point lead, but the Beavers responded with a Ranquist three giving UMF a 43-41 lead with 4:24 to go.

After a pair of ties, Hannah Roy canned a three to give UMF the lead for goood at 48-45 with 2:23 to play and the Beavers hit six of eight from the foul line down the stretch to scrape out the 54-47 victory.

Men’s hockey

Maine, UMass tied

AMHERST, Mass. —The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team skated to a 2-2 draw at UMass on Friday night. The Black Bears move to 3-6-2 on the season and 3-5-1 in Hockey East play.

Maine took a 1-0 lead just 4:55 into the game with a power-play goal. Kyle Beattie found Mark Anthoine of Lewiston between the face-off circle. He one-timed the puck past UMass goalie Jeff Teglia for his second goal of the season. It was also his second goal in as many games. Ryan Hegarty also picked up and assist on the goal as he initially got the puck to Beattie.

The Black Bears extended their lead to 2-0 at 12:49 when Brian Flynn got a pass from Spencer Abbott and fired the puck past Teglia from the right face-off circle. The puck, which was shot from an awkward angle, just found the inside of the goal post. It was the fifth

Women’s ice hockey

Maine, Brown tie

ORONO — The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team skated to a 4-4 draw against Brown University on Friday. With the tie, the Black Bears’ record is now 7-5-3 and remains 2-3-1 in Hockey East play.

Brown took an early lead just 41 seconds into the first period on a goal by Sarah Robson and was assisted by Brittany Moorehead. At 3:34, Tori Pasquariello nabbed her fifth goal of the season and her fourth in the last three games for the Black Bears. Chloe Tinkler  found Pasquariello to earn her fourth assist of the season.

Maine took a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal by Brianne Kilgour, her first of the season, at 7:45. Brittany Dougherty assisted Kilgour on the play for her seventh assist of the season. Maine had now taken a 2-1 lead. Brown answered with a power-play goal of their own at 10:18 on a goal by Katelyn Landry. The Brown Bears took a 3-2 lead at 15:02 via a power-play goal by Laurie Jollin, assisted by Jessica Hoyle and Paige Pyett. The score remained 3-2 for the duration of the first period.