Men's Basketball: Dailey Edges Closer to Single-Season Record as Bison Fall Just Short to the Barons

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Bethany went back on the road for a contest against local rival, Franciscan University, Wednesday night. Despite leading after 20 minutes of play, the Green and White had the game pulled out from underneath them as Franciscan narrowly escaped with a 65-63 win.

The Bison trailed 29 seconds into the game, but quickly took the lead with a three-pointer from Julian McGee. Franciscan went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead by six before Troy Hixson posted his first triple of the night which immediately cut the deficit in half. Just 30 seconds later, Cody Davis kept the Bison hot from outside the arc with a three of his own to knot the game at nine. TJ Jenkins soon gave Bethany a two-point advantage that quickly tripled with jumpers from Davis and Chance Wells. Dailey got involved in the scoring just over the halfway point of the first half with a jump shot of his own. Both sides traded point-for-point as the game teetered between a one- or three-point margin in favor of the Bison for several minutes. Brendan Riggs added to the collection of threes with just over eight minutes left in the half. The Barons went ahead but the game flipped once again as Dailey posted back-to-back layups. After a three from the hosts, Bethany went on a 5-2 run to close out the half courtesy of a Wells jumper before Dailey sunk three foul shots, and propelled the visitors into a 33-31 lead at the break.

Franciscan used momentum from the locker room to post four of the first six points in the second frame with the two points for Bethany coming from a Dailey jumper; this stretch saw the game knotted up 35-35. McGee put up two more early in a half with a jump shot before the Barons went on another 5-0 run. Dailey briefly cut the deficit down to a single point before Franciscan blew the game wide open and made it a ten-point game. Bethany then proceeded to go on a run of their own, in the fashion of 9-2; Wells posted four of the nine with Riggs adding another three before Dailey sunk a jumper to make it a one-possession game again. Points were traded back and forth once again as the Barons' lead grew and shrunk based upon who scored the latest points. Bethany trailed by two, and Wells laid in a shot to tie things up 55-55 with just over six minutes remaining. Dailey stayed red hot posting two more that tied the game up once again before his free throw made things 58-58. A three from Wells with two to play gave the Bison the lead before a 7-2 momentum swing for the Barons was enough to push them to their 65-63 victory.

Dailey led the Green and White with 25 points and nine rebounds while also adding five blocks. Dailey's total of 61 is currently second in Bethany's record books for most in a single season, and he has two more opportunities to post seven more and officially break the record. Wells posted 17 points of his own tonight as well.

Bethany is back at home Saturday for Senior Day against Geneva. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.