Grace Basketball: No. 4 Pilots Soar Past Lancers

Bethel senior Jordyn Coon makes a pass Saturday. The former Warsaw standout had 13 points as the No. 4 Pilots beat Grace 91-73 in Mishawaka.

MISHAWAKA – The Grace College men’s basketball team, after a closely contested first half, sputtered in the second half during a 91-73 loss at No. 4 Bethel on Saturday.

The Lancers (12-14, 4-10 Crossroads League) were outscored by 15 after halftime, allowing the Pilots (23-3, 13-1 CL) to shoot 65 percent in the second half in the Crossroads League matchup in the Wiekamp Center.

Grace guard Tre Olive tied for game-high scoring honors with 20 points, highlighting a strong senior season against the archival Pilots.

The first half saw six ties and several lead changes. Bethel remained in front for most of the half, although the lead was never greater than six.

Grace freshman guard Braxton Linville, a NorthWood High School product, and Olive were key figures in the first half, producing 12 points apiece. Linville was 2-for-2 on 3-pointers and also hauled in six boards before halftime.

Bethel, which won its 12th straight game, went into halftime with a slight 43-40 advantage. Senior guard Clay Yeo, the former star at Triton High School, led the Pilots with 12 points off the bench in the opening half. Bethel was 16-32 from the field and 8-8 from the free throw line in the first half.

To start the second half, the Pilots came out strong on a 10-3 run to open up a double-digit cushion.

Sophomore Logan Godfrey responded with a basket, and Linville buried his third 3-pointer of the game on the next play. But the Pilots quickly reopened a 10-point lead, which Grace was never able to penetrate.

Olive did his best to keep Grace within striking distance, slashing his way through Bethel’s defense as the team’s primary facilitator. He hit two free throws with 7:38 to play to cut the Pilots’ advantage to 74-62.

But the Lancers were unable to keep pace with Bethel’s offense and could not mount a significant comeback bid.

Senior Clay Yeo led Bethel with 20 points Saturday.

As a team, Grace had just six assists on 27 made shots compared to 21 assists on 38 made shots for Bethel.

Grace shot 44 percent from the floor while Bethel made 58 percent. The Lancers got to the foul line seven more times than the Pilots, but Bethel grabbed eight more rebounds.

Linville finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Logan Godfrey produced 10 points, seven boards and two blocks.

Junior Erik Bowen tallied nine points and two assists, Freshman Charlie Warner shot 3-of-4 for six points with two blocks, and junior Chad Hoffer also chipped in six points.

Bethel got big performances Saturday for a host of former area high school standouts. Senior guard Yeo, who has returned from a knee injury, led the Pilots with 20 points. Yeo hit 8-13 shots and 4-4 from the line in 26 minutes.

The Pilots, sparked by Yeo, had a huge 43-15 advantage in bench points in the win.

Senior Jordyn Coon, who played at Warsaw, had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Bethel. Guard Nick Kindig, another of the five seniors for Bethel, finished with eight points. Kindig is a Tippecanoe Valley High School product. Junior Tanner Shepherd, another former standout at Triton, had five points.

Paul Forman scored 12 points and Trey’von Covington added 11 for the Pilots. Bethel shot 38-66 overall from the field, including 4-12 from distance. Grace finished 27-62 from the field, including 5-15 from deep.

Bethel, which notched its 12th straight win, improved to 12-0 at home this season. The Pilots, who have won 13 in row in conference play since losing their opener to Taylor, now lead the series with Grace 66-63 with wins in eight of the last 11 meetings. Bethel beat the Lancers 80-77 in Winona Lake on Dec. 3.

The game was also likely the final matchup between legendary coaches Jim Kessler from Grace and Mike Lightfoot of Bethel. Lightfoot has announced he will retire at the end of this season. The pair of coaches have combined for 1,541 wins in 70 seasons of coaching experience (786 in 30 for Lightfoot and 755 in 40 for Kessler).

The Pilots are 9-0 since Lightfoot announced his impending retirement back on Jan. 5.

The Lancers will remain on the road Tuesday with a conference game at Marian at 7 p.m. The Pilots also return to action Tuesday night with a league game at Spring Arbor.