Dec 12, 2011
Junior Nick Wilcox, who was named PAC Player of the Week earlier in the day, hit the game-winning free throw with three seconds to play to lift the Bethany College men's basketball team to a 74-73 win at Frostburg State.
The win keeps the Bison, who are now 10th among teams receiving votes in this week's D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll, undefeated for the year at 9-0. The nine-game winning streak is also the program's longest since an 18-game victory streak in 2005-06. The Bobcats saw their record fall to 4-5 for the year.
Bethany led by 14 at halftime, but Frostburg started chopping away at the BC lead. The hosts moved within three when Bison junior Brady Pacific knocked a trey to push the lead back to 67-61 with 6:51 to play. That would be the final field goal of the game for BC, as they had to hold off the Bobcats on the defensive end and at the foul line.
An 11-3 run by Frostburg was capped by three straight baskets from Antoine DeSean and FSU led 73-72 with 1:05 left. On the Bison's next possession, a three-pointer was off the target, but Wilcox was fouled after grabbing the offensive rebound and made 1-of-2 to tie the score. The Bobcats missed their next shot and a foul on the rebound put Wilcox back at the line. After missing the first try, he sank the second shot for the go-ahead point. Frostburg's final shot was a three from DeSean, but it was off the mark and Bethany escaped with the victory.
The Bison built a 41-27 halftime lead by shooting 58 percent from the floor. A 15-4 run midway through the period turned a one-point deficit into a 27-17 Bethany lead and senior British Alexander posted 10 points by halftime to give the Green and White the big lead. Bethany would manage to hang on to the win despite committing a season-high 23 turnovers and being out-rebounded 40-27.
Wilcox's team-high 20 points came on 11-of-15 shooting from the charity stripe and also passed out four assists. Junior James Barton cashed in four three-pointers and finished with 19 points and six rebounds, while Alexander finished with 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked four shots.
Frostburg's loss came in spite of a great shooting night by Troy Dockett, who hit 7-of-9 from the three-point line and finished with 24 points.
Bethany will be back on the road for its next game, making the long trip to Olivet Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip-off.