No.12 Bethel MBB edge Grace 87-80

Mishawaka, Ind. – The Bethel College Pilots men’s basketball survived a second half scare from rival Grace in the 131st meeting in the series.

GAME VITALS

• Score:  Bethel def. Grace 87-80
• Records:  Bethel (10-1, 3-0) | Grace (6-6, 0-3)
• NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll: Bethel – No. 16 | Grace – not rated
• Location: Wiekamp Athletic Center | Bethel College | Mishawaka, Ind.

STAT TRACKER

• Ryan Lutz: 28 pts, 3 ast, 7-8 3fg
• Grant Gayler: 12 pts, 2 reb, 4-5 fg
• Gage Ott: 11 pts, 10 reb, 4-7 fg
• Luke Fisher: 7 pts, 6 reb

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• The Pilots’ bench outscored the Lancers 51-17, led by Ryan Lutz‘s game-high 28 points.
• The Pilots used a 12-6 run over the final 2:41 to close out the victory. The Pilots held a game-high lead of 27-13 with 9:44 left in the first half but the Lancers made a run and led briefly in the second half before the decisive Pilot run.
• The Pilots shot a season-high 12-20 from three-point range.
• The Lancers outshot the Pilots from the free throw line 21-9.

COACH LIGHTFOOT SAYS

• “I thought we had good minutes from our bench in the first half; with Paul and Gage with 2 fouls it really challenged our physicality. They really challenged us on the board, we’re plus 14 rebounding margin on the season and they cut that down to 2. It was good to have Kyle (Thompson), Luke, and Juwan off the bench to get key defensive stops in the first half while we learned to play without some of our best players on the floor. It was big for us. Lutz stepped up and and a good game for us; we’ve been waiting for him to have a break-out game as a Pilot, going 7-8 from three-point line, and it really gave us a big lift.”
• “It’s tough to win league games. I don’t care who you play, what the records are, what the rankings are—this is a tough league, no matter what, top to bottom. And it’s Bethel-Grace so it means something special.”

NEXT TIME OUT

• The Pilots continue Crossroads League play with a road match-up at Goshen in a men’s and women’s double header on Wednesday evening. Women tip at 6pm while the men tip at 8pm.

The Pilots compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. The Bethel College Athletic Department earned the NAIA Champion of Character Five-Star Gold Institution and produced 17 NAIA Scholar-Teams last season. While accumulating 3 NAIA National Championships and 32 NCCAA National Championships by 10 different athletic teams, Bethel has also produced 143 NAIA All-American honors and 309 NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors over the past decade.

Bethel College is an accredited Christian college offering associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in more than 70 areas of study.

Connect with Bethel Athletics online at BethelCollegePilots.com or via Facebook (Facebook.com/BethelPilots), Twitter and Instagram (@BethelPilots). #BuiltByBethel