Men's Basketball Drops Road Bout with Carnegie Mellon
Nov. 21 – PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Bethany College men's basketball team (1-2) dropped an 82-74 decision to Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
The host Tartans opened the game by taking a quick 11-3 advantage. Carnegie Mellon connected on their first three shots from beyond the arc to take the eight-point lead with 16:01 to play in the first half.
The Green & White would respond with a mini 5-0 run, cutting the hosts lead to three points (11-8) on a jumper by Travon Cotton (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage). Bethany would continue to trail, however, fluctuating from between three and 11 points down over the next 15 minutes of the first half.
With 5:43 remaining in the opening frame, a layup by Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) pulled the Bison within seven points. Carnegie Mellon would then respond, however, by opening their biggest lead of the half. A seven-point run extended the hosts lead to 14 points with 2:18 to play. The seven-point swing was capped by a three pointer from Jack Serbin.
The Green & White would once again respond, ending the half on a 7-0 run to shrink the halftime deficit to 40-33. A three-point basket by Andrew Williams (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) started the run, which was then followed by a steal and fast-break dunk from Cotton.
With just five seconds remaining in the half, the Bison had time for one final possession. Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) took the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast, laying the ball in before time expired to close the half with the Green & White trailing by seven, 40-33.
Bethany kept the game close in the opening stanza by forcing 11 Carnegie Mellon turnovers, leading to a 13-2 advantage in points off of turnovers. The Tartans responded, however, getting a big lift from there bench, holding a 23-6 advantage in points by the reserves.
Just as in the first half, the Bison pulled the game within one possession on multiple occasions, but failed to retake the lead from the hosts.
Bethany opened the half with a quick 4-0 run, getting a pair of free throws by Cotton and a layup by Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) to cut the lead to 40-37 with 18:28 to play.
The Bison would get the lead down to three points, five more times over the first ten minutes of the second stanza, with the Tartans responding in each instance. The closes Bethany came was at the 12:04 mark when Javonte' Trujillo (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) nailed a triple to cut the lead to two (54-52) with 12:04 to play.
An Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) layup with 9:16 to play was the last time the Bison found themselves within one basket in the contest. The Tartans responded by outscoring the Green & White 8-2 over the next three minutes to push the lead to 70-61 with 6:41 to play. A dunk by Patrick Ehland and a pair of free throws by Thomas Cook finished the run, and the Bison could not recover.
Over the rest of the game, Bethany would pull as close as six, but solid free-throw shooting by the hosts gave them the nine point victory, 82-74, sending the Bison to 1-2 on the season.
Overall, the Bison were undone on the offensive side of the ball, as they shot just 25 percent (5-of-20) from distance. The Green & White also converted on just 15 of 25 free throws, shooting 60 percent from the line.
Offensively, four players scored in double figures for the Green & White, led by an 18-point performance by Jones. Rudolph added 14 points to the cause, while Williams and Trujillo pitched in with 10 points, each.
Bethany will be back in action on Tuesday, November 24 as they return home to take on the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum University. The matchup is slated for a 7 p.m. start.