Winona Lake, Ind. --- The Bethel University Men's Basketball team kept rolling as they knocked off NAIA #22 Oregon Tech 87-85 in their final game of the Crossroads/Cascade Classic, Saturday afternoon at Grace College.
The game came down to the wire as
Nathan Aerts hit two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left in the game to put the Pilots up 87-84. Aerts then fouled Erik Fraser, who made his first free throw but missed the second. Oregon Tech managed to grab the offensive rebound but failed to connect at the buzzer.
After trailing at the half 39-33, The Pilots came out hot in the second half, hitting on 50% from the floor and outscoring Oregon Tech 54-46, The Pilots were sharp from the charity stripe as well, converting on 77.8% of their free tosses. They also had 15 points off turnovers and 22 fast break points.
Drew Lutz matched Clay Yeo's (2014-2017) record of fastest Bethel player to 100 points (5 games). Lutz now has 125 points on the year. Lutz (28) and Chikara Tanaka (19) combined for 47 points for the Pilots with Aerts (15) and Hunt (11) just behind them, respectively
It is only the second time these two teams have met, with the first being the 1998 NAIA National Championship where Rico Swanson hit a fade-away buzzer beater to give Bethel 89-87 and their 3
rd NAIA national title.
The Pilots improve to 5-0 on the season and will be at NAIA #7 William Penn on Nov 15th.
NEXT TIME OUT
- The Pilots will be in Oskaloosa, Iowa taking on #7 William Penn on Nov. 15th at 7:00 p.m.
For the latest information on each of Bethel University's 31 intercollegiate athletic teams, visit
BUPilots.com or follow the Pilots on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @BUPilots or on YouTube at /BethelSportsNetwork.
