Men's Basketball: Dailey sets single-season record; Bison fall in thriller with Saint Vincent

Drew VonScio, Student Assistant for Athletic Communications 

BETHANY, W.Va. – The Bison men's basketball team hosted St. Vincent for the final game of the 2022-2023 regular season. In what was a back-and-forth affair where Cole Dailey now holds the single-season block record, the Green and White fell to the Bearcats 76-73.

Chance Wells got the Bison on the board first with a jump shot before the game was tied at two almost a minute later. Dailey added a layup to give the Bison the lead right back that extended to a five-point advantage with a Wells three-pointer. St. Vincent would score the next seven points to go back on top before Wells added another one from behind the arc, and Julian McGee got involved as well with a three of his own. Troy Hixson got involved with a layup that put Bethany back in front by four before Quinn Hiles put one up, too. The Bearcats cut their deficit down to four yet again before Cody Davis posted a triple; they quickly bounced back with a 9-0 run that saw the Bison. That lead was erased in the blink of an eye with another three from Wells. Moments later, Da'Shan Clark gave Bethany another lead with a jumper. The Bearcats recorded back-to-back field goals and went ahead by three before Wells stayed hot from behind the arc to knot the game up 28-28. St. Vincent proceeded to have a late swing of momentum, going on a 10-3 run to end the half. The lone Bison points came from a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Hixson.

Riding that late momentum from the first half, St. Vincent put up the first field goal of the second half before Riggs connected for three. The Bearcats added the next four which saw their lead grow to double-digits for the first time all night. Riggs continued his stride with another three that got the Bison deficit back to nine. After a Bearcat free throw, a defensive stalemate ensued before the visitors posted a layup and triple. Wells made a jumper before St. Vincent responded with two more. Hixson wasn't done yet as he posted two threes that got the Green and White deficit down to 11. After a Bearcat timeout, Hixson wanted to add five more that highlighted a 7-2 run with Tony Fox polishing it off with a layup.

Fox and Wells recorded layups in consecutive possessions with Wells completing a three-point play to make it a one-point game. St. Vincent had momentum swing their way to pull ahead by seven. Hixson's three then shifted the momentum back to the hosts as the Bearcat lead dwindled down to three. The contest came down to the wire as the visitors went up by two possessions with 90 seconds to play. The Bison stormed back as they trailed by just a single point with 30 seconds to go before St. Vincent finished the game off with two free throws as the Bison fell 76-73.

Hixson led the Bison with 24 points along with Wells being on his right behind him with 21 and a team-high six rebounds in the season finale. Bethany finishes with an overall record of 3-22 and 3-17 in conference play.