Bison defeated at Grove City, 66-57

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

GROVE CITY, Pa. (Feb. 17) - The Bethany College men's basketball team was dealt a 66-57 loss at Grove City Saturday afternoon in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game.

The Bison wrap-up the regular-season at 14-11 overall, 14-4 in the PAC. Despite the loss, Bethany has clinched the No. 2 seed in the PAC Tournament by virtue of Westminster's 72-69 win over Saint Vincent Saturday night. Bethany will host Waynesburg on Tuesday, February 20 at 7 p.m. in an opening round game. Meanwhile, the Wolverines improve to 9-9 in the PAC, 16-9 overall. Grove City ends the regular-season with a 9-2 record on its home court.

Bethany senior guard Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) led the Bison with 15 points, senior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) added 14 points, while senior center Liam Davis (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Christian Prep) added 12 points in the loss. In the game, Jones passed former Bison Mike Majzun (1998-2003) for seventh all-time in scoring at Bethany College and now sits at 1,413 points. 

Grove City held the upper hand over the first 12 minutes of the game and led 23-8 with 8:05 left in the first half. The Bison managed to close the gap by out-scoring the Wolverines 12-to-7 over the final eight minutes, before heading into halftime trailing 30-20.

Bethany controlled play over the first five minutes of the second half. The Bison cut the Grove City lead to 36-31 following a three pointer and a dunk by Williams on consecutive possessions with 14:40 left in the game. The Wolverines would eventually re-establish a double-digit lead and took a 60-42 lead with 5:28 remaining in regulation. The Bison responded with a 15-2 run to narrow the deficit to 62-57 in the final two minutes, but Grove City held the Bison scoreless from that point on to earn the win.

Bethany forced 21 Grove City turnovers, but only converted for 11 points off of those turnovers. The Bison finished the game shooting 33 percent (20 of 60) from the field, compared to the 52 percent (26 of 50) posted by the Wolverines.

The Bison will open play in the PAC Tournament on Tuesday, February 20, when they host Waynesburg at 7 p.m.