Bethany slides past W&J in OT, 69-66

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

BETHANY, W.Va. (Jan. 10) - A last second shot came up short, as the Bison held on for a 69-66 overtime win against Washington & Jefferson Wednesday night in a Presidents' Athletic Confernce (PAC) game at the Hummel Field House.

The win propels the Bethany College men's basketball team to 5-2 in the PAC, 5-9 overall. Meanwhile, the Presidents fall to 2-12 overall, 1-6 in the league standings.

Bethany led 67-63 in overtime, before a three-point shot by W&J's Matt Kanan sliced the lead to one with 17 seconds left on the clock. Senior forward Christian Harris (Cleveland, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) calmly knocked down two free throws on the other end to give the Bison a 69-66 lead with 15 seconds remaining. The Presidents missed a three-point attempt to tie and recovered the ball with four seconds remaining before taking a timeout. The Bison defense made things difficult for the W&J guards, forcing Terence Martin, a forward with one three-point attempt this season, to attempt a last-second heave that rimmed out and secured the Bethany win.

Bison senior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy), who entered the night leading the PAC with 19.0 ppg., finished with a game-high 24 points with seven assists in the win. Senior guard Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) recorded a season-high with 20 points, while senior center Liam Davis (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Christian) added 15 points and seven rebounds.

A layup by senior forward Nick Metz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) with 15:04 remaining in the first half got the Bison within one possession at 12-10, but W&J pulled ahead with a 12-3 run to take a 21-13 lead with 11:11 on the clock until halftime. W&J's Kanan spurred the rally with a trio of three-point shots during the run.

The Bison rallied to tie the game at 27-27 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half with the help of treys by Jones and Williams. W&J built its lead back with 10-straight points to take a 37-27 lead at the 2:22-mark, but the momentum swung back to Bethany before the horn sounded. The Bison closed out the half with seven-unanswered points to pull within three at 37-34 heading into the break.

Bethany maintained the momentum in the early moments of the second half. Baskets by Jones and Davis pushed the Bison run to 13-unanswered and helped Bethany take a 40-37 lead three minutes into the second half. Bethany remained ahead for the majority of the next 13 minutes of the game, but W&J was never far behind. Bethany led 57-51 with 6:44 left in the second half when the Presidents scored 10-straight points to move ahead 61-57 with 1:54 to play in regulation.

Bethany halted the run with a layup by Davis and tied the game with a pair of clutch free throws by Jones with 36 seconds on the clock. W&J came up short on an off-balanced attempt in the final 10 seconds to try and win the game and a quick outlet allowed Williams a chance to win the game at the buzzer on the other end. Williams sped towards the lane and floated a shot to the basket that fell short, sending the game into overtime.

The Presidents missed their first three shot attempts and two free throws to open the extra session, allowing the Bison to take a 65-61 lead two minutes into overtime. The two teams traded baskets on its next possessions, giving the Bison a 67-63 lead entering the final minute.

Bethany made all six of its attempts from the charity stripe in overtime, compared to W&J who went 0-for-4 from the line during the extra session.

The Presidents were led by Kanan, who ended the night with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting (all from three-point range).

Bethany will play host to Grove City in a PAC contest on Saturday, January 13 at 3 p.m.