Bethany Men’s Basketball Falls to #11 Marietta
Nov. 17 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College men's basketball team fell, 78-65, to #11 Marietta College on Tuesday evening.
The Bison (1-1) scored on the opening tip as a set play gave Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) an open layup off the tap from Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic).
The two teams exchanged baskets early as Bethany went up 11-9 with 15:11 left on a jumper by Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic).
After a timeout, with the score knotted at 11-11, Jones knocked down a three to put the Bison up 14-11. The sophomore guard then came up with a steal on the defensive end and found Harper down court for another trey to take a six-point advantage with 13:30 remaining.
Marietta (2-0) responded with a 5-0 run before Bruster finished strong in the paint to make it 19-16.
The Pioneers then scored ten straight points to take a 26-19 lead and force a Bison timeout with 9:20 to go in the half.
A three from Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) cut the Pioneer lead to five, 28-23, with seven minutes left to play. However, another quick run from Marietta forced a Bethany timeout with 4:09 remaining with the Bison trailing, 35-26.
After an offensive rebound and put back from Chris Harris (Brecksville, Ohio/Broadview Heights) with 2:03 left, Marietta got four straight points from freshman Anthony Wallace to take a 43-32 lead at the half.
Bethany knocked down four treys in the first half and forced seven turnovers. The Pioneers finished 5-of-8 from deep in the opening 20 minutes.
The Green & White began the second half with a 9-3 run, with all nine points coming from Bruster. He started the run with a layup before knocking down a triple on the next possession. Another jumper and a basket in the paint cut the Bison's deficit to five, 46-41.
The Pioneers once again responded, scoring seven unanswered to extend the lead to twelve, 53-41, with 15:20 left.
The Bison continued to battle and a jumper from Rudolph cut the lead to eight (57-49) with 11:41 to go.
A three from Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) ended a 7-2 run from Marietta with the score 66-54 with 8:07 left to play.
That would be as close as the Bison would get as Marietta used their size advantage to keep their lead in double digits. The Pioneers totaled 40 points in the paint, with 20 in each half.
Marietta shot 50% (7-of-14) from three-point range and received 29 points from the bench to preserve the win.
Offensively, Jones led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds. Bruster added 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting with six boards, and Williams collected 13 on 3-of-7 shooting from deep.
Rudolph finished with five points, eight rebounds, and three assists in 37 minutes of action. He added a steal and two blocks as well.
Bethany College will return to action in their first road contest as they travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on Carnegie Mellon at 5:00 p.m.
