Men's Basketball Falls Short at Thiel
Jan. 30 – GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Bethany College men's basketball team dropped an 84-80 decision to Thiel College on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Green & White to 12-7 on the year, including 8-4 in conference play.
The Bison and Tomcats opened the game by trading buckets over the first four minutes of the game. Harper kept the Green & White in the game early, scoring seven of the team's first ten points.
Bethany opened the advantage to four points at the 14:16 mark, getting back-to-back threes by Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) and Javonte' Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) to push the Bethany advantage to 16-12 with 14:16 to play.
Thiel would not go away in the half, pulling the game tied at the 11:25 mark, 23-23. The Green & White would once again surge ahead, using a 16-4 run over the next seven minutes. Williams contributed four points to the run that was capped by consecutive threes from Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) and Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic). The run opened the Bison's lead to 39-27 with 4:26 to go.
The Tomcats closed the gap over the final five-minute stretch, outscoring the Green & White 13-7 to pull within six. Leandra Jackson single-handedly kept the hosts in the game, scoring nine of the team's 13 points to end the half.
The Bison were on fire from deep in the first half, shooting .529 from deep in the opening stanza. Six different players hit at least one shot from long range, led by a 3-of-6 effort from Harper. The senior finished the half with 15 points as Bethany held a 46-40 lead at the break.
The hosts came back quickly in the second half, using an 11-2 run to knot the game at 51-51 with 15:45 to play in the game. Following that tie, the two teams would trade buckets, knotting the game seven more times.
A Bruster free throw tied the game at 74-74 with 5:12 remaining before Mert Ozkaynak and Jerron Athey (Richmond, Va./Banner Christian) tallied foul shots from either side to knot the matchup at 76.
With the contest tied at 79-79, and seven seconds remaining on the clock, Thiel's Luke Kochka nailed the go-ahead three, giving the Tomcats the three-point lead, 82-79. The hosts would then convert on a pair of pressure free throws down the stretch, defeating the Bison 84-80.
In the game, the Bethany reserves led the way for the Green & White. Williams posted a team-high 17 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field including 4-of-5 from long range. Bruster finished the game with a double-double, posting 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Other offensive leaders for the Green & White included 15 from Harper and 12 from Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle).
Bethany will be back in action on Wednesday, February 3 when they travel to Crestview Hills, Ky. to take on the Saints of Thomas More College. The matchup is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.
