Bethany falls to Grove City, 86-73

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (Feb. 18) – The Bethany College men's basketball team was defeated 86-73 by Grove City Saturday evening on Senior Day in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest.

The Bison conclude the 2016-17 regular-season at 14-11 overall, 9-9 in conference play, and clinch the No. 5 seed in the upcoming PAC Tournament. Bethany will travel to No. 4 seed Westminster on Tuesday, February 21 in a quarterfinal matchup at 7 p.m.

Junior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) led the team with 24 points on 9-of-15 (60 percent) shooting from the field. Senior guard Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) and junior guard Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) each added 11 points in the loss.

Bethany stormed out to a 13-4 lead over the first five minutes of the game. A basket-and-one by Williams with 13:31 left in the first half pushed the Bison lead to 18-8. The Green & White led by as many as 15 in the first half, once at the 4:34 mark and again in the final seconds, as the team took a 46-31 lead into halftime.

Bethany maintained the pace in the second half and extended its lead to 17, 59-42, on a three-pointer by freshman forward Chaice Truex (Wheeling, W.Va./St. John Central (Ohio)) with 13:59 left in the game.

Grove City went on to out-score the Bison 24-to-7 over the next eight minutes to tie the game at 66-66 with 6:19 remaining in the contest. After a Rudolph basket reclaimed the lead for Bethany, the Wolverines closed the game on a 20-to-5 run to secure the win.

The Bison, who shot 18-for-31 (58.1 percent) in the first half, finished the game shooting 28-for-59 (47.5 percent) from the field.

Grove City scorched the nets in the second half. The Wolverines out-scored the Bison 55-to-27 and finished the period 21-for-28 (75 percent) from the field. For the game, Grove City shot 35-for-56 (62.5 percent) overall.

Four Wolverines scored in double figures, led by 17 points from Brandon Grider.

Prior to the game, seniors Rudolph and Javonte' Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) were honored for their contributions to the program.

The Bison will begin their quest for a conference championship when they head to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 21 to take on Westminster in the PAC Quarterfinals at 7 p.m.