Bethany Men’s Basketball Defeated by Westminster
Feb. 10 – NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Bethany College men's basketball team fell 63-60 to Westminster College in Presidents' Athletic Conference play on Wednesday evening.
The Bison (14-8, 10-5 PAC) trailed early as the Titans took a 13-3 lead after the opening five minutes of action.
Bethany responded with a 10-2 run of their own, capped by an Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) three pointer to make it 15-13 at the 9:50 mark of the half.
Westminster (6-16, 6-9 PAC) slowly rebuilt their advantage, taking a nine-point lead (28-19) with just over one minute remaining in the period.
The Bison, however, narrowed the Titan advantage to four before the break as Javonte Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) connected from deep and Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) followed with a dunk to make it 28-24 at the intermission.
Bethany continued their momentum into the second half, hitting three consecutive three-point field goals, two from Trujillo and one from Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City), to take a 33-28 lead with 17:48 remaining.
Westminster responded with a 6-0 spurt of their own before Trujillo knocked down his fourth triple of the contest to put the Bison ahead, 36-34.
The Green & White went up by seven (43-36) on another three from Harper with 11:48 left to play. Bethany shot 6-of-13 from deep in the second half.
Both teams continued to exchange baskets down the stretch as neither could take a decisive lead.
Westminster crept ahead late before Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) converted a three-point play to tie the game at 54-54 with 4:15 left to play.
Rudolph then scored on back-to-back possessions as he came up with a steal and dunk before hitting a short jumper to give Bethany a four-point lead (58-54).
The Titans stormed back to tie the game before taking the lead (61-59) with 34 seconds to go.
Rudolph went on to split a pair from the foul line on Bethany's next possession to cut the Titan advantage to one with 11 seconds remaining.
Westminster extended the lead back to three with seven seconds left, and a last-second desperation three wouldn't fall for the Bison as they fell 63-60.
Offensively, Trujillo led Bethany with 15 points as he finished 5-of-6 from distance. His five triples marked a career high for the sophomore.
Rudolph finished with 11 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and five assists. Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy), Bruster, and Harper each chipped in eight points.
Defensively, Jones collected four steals while Rudolph had two of his own.
The Bison will return to action on Saturday, February 13 as they travel to Waynesburg, Pa. to take on Waynesburg University at 3:30 p.m.
