Durham, NC (2/20/99) -- Bates jumped out to a 12-3 third-quarter lead and withstood a furious Guilford rally to score a 12-11 men's lacrosse victory in Saturday's season opener for both teams at the Duke University Lacrosse Stadium.

Bates sophomore midfielder Aaron Sells (Brookline, MA/Dummer Academy) scored four times and rookie attackman Jack Sandler (Hicksville, NY/Friends Academy) added three goals and three assists as the Bobcats (1-0) built a commanding 10-3 halftime lead. Sandler tallied his fourth goal 1:24 into the third period and junior Kevin Purviance (Glastonbury, CT/Kingswood-Oxford) capped a 6-0 Bates run with his first goal of the season a minute and a half later for a 12-3 Bates lead.

The Quakers (0-1) answered with a Dusty Ollerhead (Towson, MD/Towson) score at the 11:26 mark to pull Guilford within 12-4. Following seven minutes of scoreless play, Guilford turned the tide with five goals in the last 4:07 of the third quarter, including three extra-man goals. Sophomores Matt Synowiez (West End, NC/Easton, MD) and Jason Gauthier (Kernersville, NC/Skaneateles (NY)) each tallied two of their three scores in the final 2:35 of the quarter.

The Quakers controlled most of the second-half play thanks to key faceoff wins and a deliberate pace. Gauthier netted his career-high third goal of the game 4:47 into the fourth quarter to cut the Bobcats' advantage to 12-10. Guilford senior attackman Fran Randall (Homer, NY/Homer) trimmed the deficit to one with his third goal of the game with 3:12 left off an assist from senior midfielder Chad Tripp (Syracuse, NY/Henninger).