Dec 29, 2012
Senior James Barton scored a career-high 32 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead the Bethany College men's basketball team to an 88-71 victory over Hanover Saturday in the consolation game of the Zimmerman Classic at Wittenberg.
A lay-up from sophomore David Butcher and three from Barton gave BC a quick 5-0 lead and the Bison led the rest of the way. A hot-shooting Bethany side led 23-17 when consecutive treys from Barton ignited a 17-3 burst. A triple by Butcher capped the run that gave the Green and White its biggest lead of the game at 40-20 with six minutes left in the half.
The Bison ran into foul trouble late in the opening stanza, which allowed the Panthers to close the gap before intermission. Hanover's Kyle James banked in a deep three as the buzzer sounded, ending a 16-4 spurt that trimmed the Bethany lead to 49-41 going into halftime. Although BC had four players with two fouls at the break, Barton's 16 markers was the key to the Bison lead.
Hanover scored the initial three points of the second half to get as close as 49-44. The Panthers were not able to get any closer, although they did keep the deficit within single digits until midway through the second half. Barton's milestone score was also the key turning point in the second half. With his team in front 64-56, Barton cashed in a three-pointer and Bethany held a double-digit lead the rest of the way. The basket also gave the senior guard 1,000 career points, making him the 24th men's player in Bethany history to hit that milestone.
Also turning in a big game was junior Leslie Addy. He had five straight points in a 7-0 spurt that took Bethany's lead to 76-58 with six minutes to play. After going 6-for-15 from the foul line in Friday's loss to Wittenberg, the Bison sealed Saturday's victory from the free throw stripe. They hit 8-of-9 from the charity stripe in the final four minutes, including four straight from Barton, and finished the game shooting 94 percent (17-18) from the line.
Barton made his milestone game a career-best, as he made 10-of-18 from the field, including 6-for-11 from the arc, to finish with a personal high 32 points. Addy notched his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds and senior Nick Wilcox just missed a double-double with 13 markers and nine boards. Rounding out the top scorers was senior Brady Pacific with 11.
Pacing Hanover in the contest was Ryan Nowicki with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Bethany will celebrate the New Year by returning to PAC action. The Bison will travel to Westminster Wednesday, January 2nd for an 8 p.m. tip-off.