Men's basketball knocks off Saint Vincent, 70-57

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

LATROBE, Pa. (Feb. 7) - The Bethany College men's basketball team gained sole possession of second place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings with a 70-57 win at Saint Vincent Wednesday night inside the Carey Center.

The win improves the Bison to 12-3 in the PAC, 12-10 overall, and gives Bethany its ninth win in its last 10 games. Meanwhile, the Bearcats drop to 14-8 overall, 11-4 in league play, and fall for the first-time in nine games at home this season.

Senior guard Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) led the Bison with 24 points in the win. In the process, Jones moved into eighth all-time at Bethany with 1,371 career points, passing Hall of Famer Harold "Edgar" Martin (1946-50) who had 1,356.

Three other Bison scoring in double-figures, including sophomore forward Chaice Truex (Wheeling, W.Va./St. John's Central (Ohio)), senior center Liam Davis (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Christian Prep) and senior guard Jerron Athey (Richmond, Va./Banner Christian) who finished with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Truex also added a team-high eight rebounds in the win.

Bethany held the lead from basically the opening tip, despite the Bearcats keeping the game close throughout the majority of the first half. The Bison built a six point lead seven minutes into the contest on a Davis jump shot to make the score 16-10 with 12:20 left until halftime. Saint Vincent battled back with a quick 6-2 spurt to pull within one point at 18-17, but Bethany out-scored the Bearcats 17-to-6 during the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 35-23 lead into halftime.

The Bison increased its lead to 38-23 in the first three minutes of the second half. Saint Vincent climbed back into the contest with a 15-3 run to make the score 41-38 with 13:20 remaining in the game, but Jones responded with a trey that kick-started a 16-5 run that made the score 57-43 with less than seven minutes left on the clock. Bethany never led by fewer than 10 points for the remainder of the evening and eventually led by 18 during the final two minutes of the game.

The Bearcats had 11 different players score points, but none finished in double figures.

Bethany never trailed in the game and it was only tied for the first 17 seconds prior to Jones' layup that gave the Bison a 2-0 lead.

The Bison have three games remaining in the season and will travel to Washington, Pennsylvania on Saturday, February 10 to take on W&J around 3 p.m.