Bethel, IWU Highlight Day Two Winners
Bethel and Indiana Wesleyan saw their men’s basketball teams win games Thursday at the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championships.
Bethel defeated Robert Morris (Ill.) 85-80, but had to hold on late as the game was just a one-possession contest in the final 16 seconds. A Terrelle Green three cut the lead to 83-80 with 16 seconds left, but a pair of Clay Yeo free throws salted away the win for the Pilots.
Yeo finished with a team-high 21 points and teammate Jordyn Coon added a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Gage Ott scored 20 points for the Pilots (24-8), which will meet Briar Cliff (Iowa) at 5:45 p.m. Friday. Briar Cliff advanced with an 81-61 win against Washington Adventist (Mo.).
Indiana Wesleyan lit up the scoreboard in a 113-81 win against Bellevue (Neb.). The Wildcats started the game on a 20-6 run and never trailed, rolling to the Sweet 16. Seven players reached double figures for IWU, led by Aaron Murray’s 20 points. Josh Mawhorr had 17 points and Jonny Marlin and Bob Peters each had 13 points. IWU (29-5) will take on Northwest Christian (Ore.), an 84-69 winner over Southwestern (Kan.), at 4 p.m. Friday.
IU East pulled off an upset, the seven seed knocking off two-seed Tabor (Kan.) 91-68.
In a back-and-forth affair, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) used 40 points from Trae Bergh, including a huge three late in overtime, to knock out Indiana Tech 93-89.
On the women’s side, IWU also picked up a win to keep the Crossroads League unbeaten in the NAIA, a 68-58 victory against Dickinson State (N.D.). Jessica Brown scored a career-high 21 points to lead the ‘Cats to the Sweet 16. Indiana Wesleyan will get a shot at Cramer Bracket top seed Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (28-5) at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Tigers defeated IU East (22-11), 110-99, on Thursday.
Mount Marty (S.D.) knocked out Purdue Calumet 73-69.
A full list of results from the tournament can be found at naia.org.