Men's Basketball: Bison edge Bearcats for first win of the season

Drew VonScio, Student Assistant for Athletic Communications 

LATROBE, Pa – The Bison hit the road and headed east for a PAC matchup against the St. Vincent Bearcats. For the first time in 347 days, Bethany was able to hang on and knock off the hosts 65-62 and snap a 20-game regular season losing streak in the process.

Freshman Tony Fox got the Green and White on the board just 31 seconds into the contest with a layup, and Cole Dailey quickly doubled the point tally with a layup just 35 seconds later. Fox added another layup a few minutes later and also connected on a free throw as Bethany put up the first seven points of the match. The Bearcats fought back scoring the next six, but junior Logan Wright gave the Bison another cushion when he drained a three-pointer. Da'Shan Clark and Quinn Hiles added half-a-dozen more to give a double-digit advantage as the scoring picked up as the first half progressed. Tyler Kytta connected on a triple with under four minutes to go along with another layup from Fox. Chance Wells rolled one in with under two to play, and Kytta splashed in another shot from outside the arc with 14 seconds remaining to send the Green and White into the locker room ahead by 14 points, 39-25.

The Bearcats put up the first two points of the second frame, but Fox quickly responded with a layup to reinstate the 14-point advantage. For the next two minutes of play, the teams entered a defensive stalemate that was finally broken by St. Vincent; Bethany took over two more minutes to finally end their scoring drought with a Wells layup. Troy Hixson and Wells would keep the Green and White ahead by up to 13 points before the Bearcats went on a 7-3 to cut their deficit down to nine points. A pair of Bethany free throws sent their advantage back to double figures before a 6-0 run saw the Bison only ahead by six with the momentum again them. Free throws from Fox and Hixson led to a slightly larger cushion, but St. Vincent clawed their way back into a two-possession game heading into the final five minutes of play. With just under 90 seconds to play, the visitors only led by as many as a pair and used a jumper from Wells to give them some breathing room. A free throw from Hixson with nine seconds left was enough to seal the win for the Green and White, who last won on their court against these same Bearcats as Bethany has now taken two of the last three matchups with the return matchup scheduled for February 15.

Wells led the Bison with 18 points and six rebounds, while Fox added 14 and was tied for the team lead with Dailey in the rebound category with seven. With momentum on their side, Bethany stays on the road to take on the Geneva Golden Tornadoes. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.