Mishawaka, Ind. – The Bethel College Pilots men’s basketball were on the verge of their first defeat of the season before mounting a massive second half comeback to defeat Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) and move to 7-0 to start the season.
GAME VITALS
- Score:Â Â Bethel def. Cardinal Stritch 84-75
- Records:Â Â Bethel (7-0) | Cardinal Stritch (3-4)
- NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll: Bethel – No. 22 | Cardinal Stritch – not rated
- Location:Â R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium | Viterbo University | La Crosse, Wis.
STAT TRACKER
- Luke Fisher: 20 pts, 7-10 fg, 4 reb
- Kyle Hartman: 9 pts, 11 ast, 4 reb
- Trey’von Covington: 17 pts, 4-5 3pt, 8 reb
- Paul Forman: 11 pts, 6 reb
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- The Pilots trailed by 17 points with 16:35 remaining in the game and used a 42-15 run over the next fifteen and a half minutes to take an 81-71 advantage with 1:07 remaining.
- The Pilots outrebounded the Wolves 42-22 and outscored Cardinal Stritch 19-5 in second chance points.
- Fisher’s team-high 20 points led the Pilots off the bench, giving the Pilots the advantage in bench points 38-10.
- Kyle Hartman is one of three players in the nation with at least 50 assists and 15 steals on the season and holds a 2.928:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, currently in line for the third-highest ratio in single season program history. He has notched back-to-back games with at least 11 assists.
COACH LIGHTFOOT SAYS
- “We showed some grit and toughness down the stretch. Proud of the team’s effort and perseverance. With inexperience at some key positions, we showed great maturity and togetherness when our backs were against the wall early in the second half. We played one possession at a time and fought ourselves out of a corner. We had some great minutes for our bench from guys like Luke and Grant. We have been waiting on Luke to have a breakout game and he played great for us tonight on both ends of the floor.”
NEXT TIME OUT
- The Pilots will take on the winner of the Brescia (Ky.) v. Viterbo (Wis.) game on Saturday in the championship game of the Viterbo University Tournament. Game time will be announced following the conclusion of the Brescia-Viterbo game.