Bethel Basketball: Pilots Post Road Win
MOUNT VERNON – The No. 9 ranked Bethel College Pilots traveled to Mount Vernon University in Ohio on Saturday afternoon to take on the MVNU Cougars in a Crossroads League contest and returned home with an 82-70 victory.
The win improves Bethel’s season mark to 17-3 and 7-1 in league play while the Cougars drop to 15-5 (4-4 CL) for the season.
The Pilots began the game with the hot hand connecting on their first seven field goal attempts and getting off to a quick 17-4 lead. Senior Caleb Oetjen led the way for the Pilots early scoring 10 of the 17 points for the Pilots connecting on a pair of threes and two lay-ups.
The Cougars then used a 11-0 run to close the deficit to two (17-15) before Oetjen and Ryan Wassink connected on a couple of jumpers to give the Pilots an eight point cushion (23-15) with 11:04 left to play in the first half. Both teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, and at the break, the Pilots headed into the locker-room with a 41-34 lead.
The second stanza began with the Cougars scoring the first seven points in the half to knot the score at 41 apiece. Within the next several minutes of the half, the Pilots answered with a 27-12 run to increase their lead to 68-53. From there, the Cougars never were able to get closer than eight points the rest of the way, and when Bethels’ Clay Yeo hit a jumper at the 1:31 mark, the Pilot lead grew to 13 points (78-65) and had the game in control.
Offensively, the Pilots finished with a shooting percentage of 57.4 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from beyond the three-point line, and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line. Bethel also won controlled the rebounding margin by a 42-24 count.
Defensively, the Pilots had a strong effort as they help the Cougars to 38.5 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the arc including 3-of-15 three-point attempts in the second half.
Individually, the Pilots were led in scoring by Oetjen who recorded a career high 26 points to go along with five assist and five rebounds. Yeo was next with 17 points connecting on 5-of-7 attempt from the field and going 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Jordyn Coon added 11 points going 3-of-5 from the field while Paul Forman added 10.
The Cougars were led by Trey McBride who finished with a double-double with 24 points, and 10 steals to go along with five rebounds and three assist.
The Pilots host Taylor University on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Pilots fell to the Trojans 105-97 in an overtime game earlier in the season. The Trojans are currently 15-5 on the season and 6-2 in the Crossroads League.