Men's Basketball: Bison comeback falls short to Cougars

Drew VonScio, Student-Assistant for Athletic Communications 

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Bethany men's basketball team hit the road this afternoon searching for win number one of the season. Despite a very strong comeback attempt and several momentum swings, the Bison fell short against Chatham University, 73-72.

The first few minutes of the contest were a defensive stalemate mixed with several missed opportunities for both sides. Freshman Cole Dailey finally cracked the zero on the scoreboard by hitting a jumper just over three minutes into the opening frame. As the Cougars settled into the game, they established an eight-point lead with 13:22 left in the first half. This deficit did not scare the Bison as they have seen themselves in this situation many times before and responded by settling into the game themselves and getting their shots to connect as they traded points back-and-forth with the hosts. Bethany saw improvement from the last time as out as the offense was more dynamic with multiple key players getting their names in the scorebook. Multiple instances saw the visitors pull within four including with just under seven minutes to go in the half when Chance Wells hit a jumper and then again, a short time later, when Dailey drained a pair of free throws. Chatham kept their lead at eight heading into the break as Troy Hixson sunk a jumper with just four seconds remaining before the break.

Riding into the final 20 minutes where they have had much more success this season, Bethany started the second stanza strong and cut the score differential in half when Hixson drilled another jumper just over two minutes in. A duo of shots from Dailey and Wells saw the Bison make it a one-score game with over 14:30 to play in the contest. The defenses stood strong once again as the next several minutes were filled with turnovers from both sides and missed shots. Much like the first half, all it took for the Green and White offense to jumpstart was seeing their counterparts sink a basket of their own. Chatham pulled ahead by as many as 11 with just over six minutes to go in regulation, but the Bison quickly made it a one-possession affair again when Quinn Hiles converted on a jumper. Multiple trips to the drawing board, including one with just seven seconds remaining, weren't enough as the Bison came up empty despite shooting 59.3% from the field in the second half.

Dailey led Bethany with 19 points and brought down seven rebounds, with Hixson tacking on 16 and Wells adding 15 of his own. Chance Wright was also in double-digits as he scored 10 point with seven boards. The Bison have a lot to take away from this afternoon's contest as they move on to their next conference matchup Wednesday, December 7 at Grove City. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.