Bethany Men's Basketball Rolls Over Geneva

Dec. 12 – BETHANY, W. Va. – The Bethany College men's basketball team cruised to an 86-60 win over Geneva in Presidents' Athletic Conference play on Saturday night.

The Bison (4-3, 1-1 PAC) jumped out to a 10-5 advantage to open the game as Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) scored the first four points for Bethany.

With 12:14 left to play, a triple from Zach Nahra (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) and a three-point play from Jones extended the Bison lead to 18-11.

Jerron Athey (Richmond, Va./Banner Christian) then converted a driving layup (22-13) to force a Geneva (0-7, 0-3 PAC) timeout with 9:42 remaining.

Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) increased the Bison lead with a block on the defensive end and a two-handed slam on the other end to make it 24-13.

The Bison then used a 6-0 run to take a 34-17 advantage. Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle) started the run with a contested layup. Liam Davis (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Christian Prep) then finished with a dunk, and Jones added a fast break layup to force another Golden Tornado timeout with 5:16 left.

Seven late points from Rudolph, including a jumper at the buzzer, helped give Bethany a 45-23 advantage at the half. Rudolph led the Bison with 13 points as they shot 61% in the opening half, including 28 points in the paint.

Bruster scored the first five points for the Bison to open the second half, taking a 50-25 lead. He totaled nine points in 16 minutes of action.

The Green & White would cruise to the 26-point victory, outscoring the Golden Tornadoes 41-37 in the second stanza. The Bison opened the lead to as many as 32 points with just over two minutes remaining on a pair of free throws by Athey.

Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) made the most noise for the Bison in the second frame, scoring all 12 of his points in the last eight minutes of the half. He and Athey combined with five other reserve players to help the Bison bench outproduce Geneva's 38-24.

Offensively, the Bison had five players with at least nine points. Rudolph scored a season-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while Jones collected 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Athey also scored nine points.

12 different players tallied points for the Green & White as Bethany shot 55.9% from the floor.

Defensively, Jones led the Bison with three steals as they forced 14 Golden Tornado turnovers.  Bethany also held Geneva to just 33.9% shooting in the contest. 

The Green & White will return to the hardwood as they take on Franciscan University on Thursday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m.