MISHAWKA – The No. 14 ranked Bethel College men’s basketball team began where they left off the night before and came away with a 101-67 victory against the Manchester University Spartans on Thursday night.

The Pilots took care of business early in a game they never tailed going on a 14-5 run in the first five minutes before the Spartans were forced to call a timeout. The Pilots continued to extend their lead during the first-half and headed into halftime with a comfortable 59-30 lead.

Bethel came out of the intermission with no intentions of slowing down starting the half on a 11-1 run to increase the lead to 36 (70-34) with 16:15 left to play in the game. The Pilots biggest lead (40) came with 8:11 left to play in the game on a good free-throw from Caleb Oetjen.

The Spartans eventually found a glimpse of life going on a 17-6 run to cut the lead to 29, but a good three-pointer from guard Grant Gayler quickly brought the lead back to 32 as the Pilots easily walked away with a victory.

Sophomore guard Trey’von Covington led the way for the Pilots with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Senior guard Nick Kindig, a former standout at Tippecanoe Valley High School, and Gage Ott both added 14 points each, while Ott pulled down six rebounds and Kindig dished out five assists.

Bethel guards Tanner Shepherd, a Triton High School product, and Oetjen each added 11 points on the night. Junior forward Kyle Thompson recorded a career high seven rebounds to go along with five points.

For the game, BC shot 50 percent on 36-of-72 attempts and 10-of-24 from long range (41 percent). The Pilots also won the battle on the boards 47-38.

Bethel begins the 2017 calendar on the road against Crossroads League foe Marian University in Indianapolis on Tuesday, January 3.