Bison knocked off at Geneva, 81-77

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Dec. 3) – The Bison were handed an 81-77 loss at Geneva Saturday afternoon in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action.

The Bethany College men's basketball team falls to 1-1 in the PAC, 4-2 overall. Meanwhile, the Golden Tornadoes improve to 5-2 this season, 2-0 in league play.

Junior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) led four players in double-figures with 21 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) tallied 19 points, while senior forward Javonte' Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) finished with 11 points and nine boards, while senior guard Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) added 10 points and eight boards in the loss.

Geneva opened up an 11-5 lead six minutes into the game, but the Bison rallied back. Bethany led for the first time since a 1-0 lead in the opening minute when Williams recorded a basket-and-one and another layup on consecutive possessions to take a 21-19 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.

Williams helped the Green & White build its lead to seven, 26-19, with a three pointer with 6:17 left in the first half, but Geneva out-scored the Bison 16-8 over the final six minutes to close out the half with a 35-34 lead.

Bethany opened up an eight-point lead, 45-37, in the opening three minutes of the second half and maintained the lead over the next several minutes. A Rudolph jumper put the Bison up 51-44 with 13:45 remaining in the game, but 11-straight points by the Golden Tornadoes pushed the hosts ahead 55-51 with just over 10 minutes left in regulation.

The Green & White were as close as one-point behind Geneva, put never pushed through to reclaim the lead over the final 10 minutes. The Golden Tornadoes converted seven of its eight free-throw attempts in the final two minutes to put the contest away.

Geneva had a significant advantage at the free throw line over the course of the game. The Golden Tornadoes made 25-of-38 attempts (66 percent), compared to the 11-for-18 (61 percent) posted at the charity stripe by Bethany.

The Bison controlled play down low with a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint. Each team shot 46 percent from the field as a team.

Bethany will jump out of the PAC for a non-conference tilt when they host Franciscan on Monday, December 5 for a tip set for 7 p.m.