Bethany College Athletics Weekly Recap (Nov.19-25)
Bethany College Athletics Weekly Recap November 19
Zach Pressnell
Happy Thanksgiving Bison Nation! Many of our athletes traveled home for a much-deserved break, but our Winter athletics still found some action this week. Let's dive deeper into the week of November 26th in Bethany Athletics.
Women's Basketball: Bethany WBB traveled to Santa Cruz, California over Thanksgiving. They split their two games, losing to UC Santa Cruz but defeating Redlands.
Men's Basketball: Bethany MBB lost two games this week, falling to 2-5 on the season. The starting five continued to impress.
Swimming and Diving: The swimming and diving team participated in their Mid-Season Invitational November 16-18. They will be off until the middle of January.
Storylines of the Week:
WBB travels to California, MBB starting five continues to impress
Bethany Women's Basketball traveled across the country to compete in California over Thanksgiving
While most of Bethany College traveled home for Thanksgiving break this week, the women's basketball team spent the week with their secondary family: each other. They were able to travel across the country to California to play a few games. These talented women were able to play the game they love, have Thanksgiving dinner, see professional basketball complexes and spend time in some great weather by the beach. This kind of reward is much deserved for the dedication that this team shows day in and day out.
While in California, they played two games. They began with a game against UC Santa Cruz, the host of these games. UC Santa Cruz provided them with the toughest matchup thus far in 2023. In the first game of the season, Coach Lopez's team showed a lack of ball security (29 turnovers), but had since fixed this issue (8, 12,9, 11 TO in the next five). But UC Santa Cruz was able to force Bethany to turn the ball over 20 times, resulting in an early deficit and a decisive loss for the Bison. Still, Lindsey Garrison continued to impress from beyond the arc, making six threes in the game.
Bethany would then match up against Redlands, where they were the much better team and they showed that from the opening tip off. Bethany would jump out to a 16-point lead at the conclusion of the first quarter and a 23-point lead at the half. Five Bison scored double digit points while the team shot nearly 60% from the field. The Bison have consistently used ten women in the rotation, all of which have contributed to their 5-2 record.
Bethany Men's Basketball continues to see impressive performances from their starting five
Bethany's men's basketball team dropped both their games this week, a four-point PAC loss to Allegheny and a blowout loss to Marietta. In the loss to Allegheny though, Coach Brad Johnson's team continued to show improvements compared to where the program was a year ago.
This team is led by their starting five. The five starters haven't wavered much through seven games. Cole Dailey, Chance Wells, Troy Hixson and Will Brooks have started each game so far. Tony Fox has made six starts, with freshman guard Colin Meany getting the nod over Fox in the recent game.
Cole Dailey sits ahead as the team's best player, leading them in scoring, albeit having his two lowest scoring games this week. To make up for his lack of scoring this week, Dailey added 20 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocks across the two games. Dailey is complimented offensively by Chance Wells. Wells had his best game of the season against Allegheny this week, attempting to will the Bison to a victory, ultimately falling short. Wells went for 22 points on 60% shooting in the game. This team will continue to only go as far as this starting unit can take them.
This Week's Breakdown
Monday (11/27): No Bison Athletic events.
Tuesday (11/28): No Bison Athletic events.
Wednesday (11/29): Women's Basketball vs Chatham (5:30 PM), Men's Basketball vs Chatham (7:30 PM)
Thursday (11/30): No Bison Athletic events.
Friday (12/1): No Bison Athletic events.
Saturday (12/2): Women's Basketball at Washington and Jefferson (1:00 PM), Men's Basketball at Washington and Jefferson (3:00 PM)
Sunday (12/3): Men's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky (4:00 PM)
