MISHAWAKA, Ind. — A trip to the Crossroads League Championship was on the line as an NAIA Top-15 matchup took place in the Gates Gymnasium Friday night between the No. 14 Bethel Pilots and the No. 12 Huntington Foresters.
Austin Cripe dropped 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor and fired 3-6 from beyond the arc, with Preston Phillips not far behind with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Jameir Jefferson had 11 points and an impressive 5-9 from the field and eight off the glass.
Huntington found a way to gain a small advantage through 13 points off turnovers and seven second-chance points, which narrowly beat out the Pilots at 11 points off turnovers and six second-chance points.
The Pilots started behind in the early minutes, 15-8 at 14:27, but Cripe hit a triple at 14:12 and a layup at 13:17 to stay within a four-point deficit. Ike Umeh scored in the paint at 12:41, and Cripe hit two free throws at 11:40 to tie the game 17-17.
Huntington bounced back to a nine-point advantage at 3:58 with a triple by Cade Brenner before Preston Jameir Jefferson laid one off the glass with 1:01 left in the half and Phillips hit a deep ball at 34 seconds to bring the game to 39-36.
The Foresters got to the line with 2 seconds to go until halftime and split the pair to make it 40-36, but Beau Jacquay hit an incredible catch and shoot full-court shot to send Bethel into halftime with only a 40-39 deficit.
Bethel continued to trail in the second half, falling to an eight-point, 53-45, disadvantage, but battled back to make it 53-50 from a three at 12:06.
Paul Jackson hit a layup at 9:32 for a two-possession lead and Peciulis answered seconds later with his own layup at 9:18 to hand on 58-55.
Huntington gained their first 10-point lead at 4:03 off a pair at the charity stripe by Jackson Paul, 67-57, and the Foresters didn’t look back. HU peaked their lead of 13 three times in the final two minutes before leaving the Gates Gymnasium with a ticket to the Crossroads League Championship on Monday, March 3.
The Pilots await the NAIA’s announcement of the NAIA National Tournament field, which will be announced on March 6 at 8 p.m. on the NAIA YouTube Channel.