Truex, Bison surge past Saint Vincent, 83-71

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (Feb. 8) – The Bethany College men's basketball team cruised to an 83-71 win over league-leading Saint Vincent in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest Wednesday night.

The Bison improve to 13-9 overall, 8-7 in league play. Meanwhile, the Bearcats, the four-time defending PAC Tournament Champion, have their nine-game winning streak snapped and fall to 13-2 in the PAC, 17-5 overall. Both of Saint Vincent's conference losses this season have been to Bethany.

Freshman forward Chaice Truex (Wheeling, W.Va./St. John Central (Ohio)) established a season-high with 25 points on 9-of-14 (64 percent) shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, and posted a team-high eight rebounds in the win. Senior guard Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) finished with 16 points and six assists, while junior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) added 13 points and a team-best seven assists.

Neither team established much of a cushion early in the game. Saint Vincent tied the game at 18 with 10:27 left in the first half, before Bethany rolled off eight-consecutive points, capped off by a trey from freshman guard Lance DeZee (Berlin Center, Ohio/Western Reserve), to go up 26-18 near the eight-minute mark.

Saint Vincent clawed back to within three points, 26-23, with 5:23 until the break, but the Bison pushed their lead back to nine, 39-30, heading into halftime.

Bethany took command of the game in the second half. The Bison built their lead to 15, 54-39, over the first five minutes, but did not remain content. Back-to-back three pointer by Truex and a dunk by Rudolph, setup by a Truex steal, improved the lead to 20, 62-42, with just under 12 minutes in the game.

Bethany continued to pour it on, building its biggest lead of the night to 27 points, 74-49, with 7:14 remaining in the game. Saint Vincent drew back within 14 with under three minutes in regulation, but could not overcome the Bison lead.

The Green & White shot 33-for-58 (57 percent) from the field, compared to the 24-for-52 (46 percent) registered by Saint Vincent.

The Bison made a season-best 12 three pointers on 20 attempts (60 percent). The team's previous high was eight. Bethany also dished out a season-high 19 assists in the game.

Bearcat guard Josh Duda led the team with 14 points, including all nine of his free-throw attempts. Saint Vincent led in the game for a total of three minutes and 25 seconds and its largest lead was three.

Bethany is back on the Hummel Fieldhouse court on Saturday, February 11 when they host Washington & Jefferson at 4 p.m.