Men’s Basketball Drops PAC Opener to Geneva, 63-52

Bethany, WV- The Bethany College Men's basketball team lost 63-52 to Geneva to open Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC) play Wednesday night. Junior guard Trey Shifflett (York, Pa/William Penn) led the Bison with 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. After Wednesday night's loss, the Bison fall to 1-5 (0-1) and the Golden Tornadoes are now 3-3 (1-0).

The Green and White were helped with efforts from freshman Trez Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa/Obama Academy) and senior Malik Ellis (Richmond, Va/ Life Christian Academy). Jones added 10 points while Ellis recorded eight points and grabbed six rebounds. Freshman Khalil Wilson (Pittsburgh, Pa/Woodland Hills) contributed seven points and pulled in seven rebounds to round out the top scorers for the Bison.

The Bison jumped out to a quick 10-2 start to begin the game. Junior Aiden Albert (Saxonburg, Pa/Knoch) hit a three to start the game and moments later Ellis would pick the pocket from Geneva for a break away dunk. The Green and White would take a 16-8 lead over the Yellow and Black with 12:16 to go in the half. The Bison gave up a 16-6 run to the Golden Tornadoes giving Geneva their first lead of the game. Geneva would take the lead for good at 25-24 with 1:32 left in the first half.

Bethany's efforts to climb back fell short trailing by as many as 10 through out the second half. Jumpers by Jones and sophomore Logan Wolverton (Byesville, Oh/Meadowbrook) would cut the lead to five but Geneva answered back with buckets of their own. The game would fall out of reach in the last two minutes of the game with the Golden Tornadoes bringing their final lead to 11.

The Green and White shot a 28.2% from the field for the game while Geneva made 40.0% of their shots. The Bison gave up 34 points in the paint and 13 second chance points. In the Bison efforts to comeback, they converted 11 points off of 20 Tornadoes' turnovers.

Men's basketball looks to get back in the win column on Saturday as they take on Carnegie Mellon at 3pm for a non conference matchup.