SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A 10-2 run over the final two minutes of the game cost the Indiana University South Bend men’s basketball team in an 80-70 loss to the No. 22 ranked Bethel College Pilots on Wednesday night, the Titans first loss of the season.
Taylor Brooks (SR/Granger, Indiana) had an impressive night against a much bigger Bethel team, scoring a team-high 18 points and pulling down a team-high eight boards.
Cold shooting put the Titans in an early hole as the Pilots doubled them up at the 12:34 mark and took their first double digit lead with 7:01 left in the opening half. An 8-2 IU South Bend run that was capped off by a triple from Jeremy Jones (SR/Fort Wayne, Indiana) pulled the Titans within five points of the Pilot lead.
Brooks drained one of his two three’s on the night with five seconds left in the half to send the Titans into the break trailing by just two points.
IU South Bend scored on a well-designed inbounds play to open the second half, knotting the game at 32 apiece.
Nearly three minutes into the second frame, Brooks’ second triple gave IU South Bend their first lead of the contest at 40-39.
Both teams traded baskets until the Titans went on a brief 5-0 run to lead 56-51 with less than 10 minutes left in the game.
The Pilots regained the lead on a Tanner Shepherd layup with 5:21 to play and never looked back. IU South Bend could not come up with a defensive stop as the Pilots went on to hand the Titans their first loss of the season.
Jackson Edwards (SO/Knightstown, Indiana) chipped in with 17 points in the loss while T.J. Benner (SR/Mishawaka, Indiana) added 12.
IU South Bend will get a week off before they open up Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action as they host Robert Morris University Illinois on Wednesday, November 15th at 7:30 p.m.