Bethel Basketball: Pilots Handle Lawrence Tech
MISHAWAKA – The Bethel College Pilots relied on a strong second half to give head coach Mike Lightfoot win number 775 on his career in a 101-86 win over Lawrence Tech Wednesday night.
Junior forward Gage Ott led the charge during the second half scoring 16 of his 23 points in the while pulling down three rebounds and dishing out one assist.
Bethel struggled early to find their shooting touch from outside in the opening half of play connecting on only 16.7 percent from behind the three-point stripe (1-of-6). The sluggish shooting carried over onto the defensive side of the ball as the Pilots allowed the Blue Devils to connect on nine three shooting a solid 37.5 percent and keep the game close during the first half.
The Pilots came out of intermission with a completely different mindset beginning the half on a 28-16 run to go up 71-54 with twelve minutes left to play. The Pilots continued to extend their lead until the 8:00 minute mark, as the Blue Devils began to claw their way back into the game. In the next four minutes Lawrence Tech responded going on a 10-4 run and cutting the lead to fifteen, but the deficit was too much for the Blue Devils to overcome as they would come no closer than 13-points the rest of the way.
For the game Bethel shot 56 percent on 37-of-66 shooting while Lawrence Tech connected on 26-of-64 for 45 percent.
Nick Kindig added 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and five assist. Caleb Oetjen scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half while pulling down four rebounds. Tanner Shepherd added a solid performance of 14 points going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, while Coon added 13 points, six rebound, and three assist.
Bethel (12-3) will quickly turn around and play the host to Manchester University Thursday, December 29 at 6:00 p.m.