Dailey Records 500th Career Rebound

In a game in which junior Cole Dailey joined the 500-rebound club, the battle on the glass was the determining factor as the Bethany College men's basketball team lost its first home game of the season, falling to Franciscan Wednesday, 69-67, on Joe Kurey Memorial Court inside the Hummel Field House. 

Bethany was minus-11 on the boards with the Barons pulling down 19 offensive rebounds which led to a 21-11 advantage in second-chance points. Despite the deficiency on the glass, the Bison came within a whisker of stealing the victory as junior Troy Hixson's three-pointer hit the front of the rim and fell harmlessly to the floor.  

Franciscan missed the front ends of back-to-back one-and-ones to leave the door cracked open for Bethany. After the first miss, Jess Roller went coast to coast but had his game-tying layup blocked.  

The Barons scored 13 of the first 15 points, and eight minutes into the game, Bethany trailed by 10 points. A dunk by Roller capped an 8-0 spurt that pulled the Bison to within two points. However, Franciscan ended the half by scoring 11 of the last 13 points of the half.  

Back-to-back three-pointers from Cole Matthews pulled Bethany to within two points with a shade over nine minutes remaining. The Bison pulled to within one possession eight times over the last nine minutes, but Franciscan seemingly had an answer every time.  

Matthews hit a career-high four three-pointers, tying a career-high 12 points.  

Dailey led the team with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting with four rebounds, while Roller added 15 points and a career-high six boards. Sophomore Will Brooks also pulled down six rebounds to go along with seven points and a season-high six assists for the Bison. 

INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES 

• Sophomore Josh Coffeld made his first career start.  
• Dailey and Roller have reached double figures in every game this season.  
• Junior Ryan Reasbeck, the conference's leading scorer, was held scoreless for the first time this season.  
• Matthews and Brooks combined to shoot 5-for-6 from three-point range, but the rest of the team was 0-for-16 from beyond the arc.  
• Franciscan made more free throws (8) than Bethany attempted (7).  

Bethany (5-2 overall, 0-2 PAC) hosts Washington & Jefferson (5-2 overall, 3-1 PAC) 3 p.m. Saturday inside Hummel Field House.  

This article was written by Assistant Athletic Director for Communications, Jayson Ameer Rasheed. If you believe that there are mistakes in information-- or have a separate thought relating to the event in the article-- please email ameer.rasheed@bethanywv.edu for any corrections/comments.