Mount Vernon, Ohio --- The Bethel Pilots Men's Basketball team (16-10, 8-8) fell on the road to a hot shooting Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars team (13-12, 6-9) by a score of 108-90 in a crucial Crossroads League contest.
The Pilots started out of the gate battling in a neck-and-neck affair, taking a brief four-point lead at 9:55 in the first half with a triple by sophomore
Tanguy Touze.
But minutes later, the Cougars streaked to a nine-point lead at 4:13 with a three-pointer by Kade Ruegsegger, who ended the night with 33 points. The Pilots trailed at the half by 7, giving up a whopping 55 points as the Cougars hit 58% of their FG's, including 10 of 15 from behind the arc.
The second half fared no better for the Pilots as Mount Vernon Nazarene's lead peaked at 21 points at 3:15 in the second half, and the Cougars rode to a two-game win streak in Ariel Arena.
The leading scorer for the Pilots was
Drew Lutz, with 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Junior
Nathan Aerts lit up the nets with 20 points on an impressive 50% shooting from the floor and
Brandon Hunt grabbed a team-leading eight boards while shooting 7-for-11 (63%) from inside the arc with 16 points.
Deacon Heath and
Tanguy Touze each added 14 points.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Nathan Aerts started the night tied with former Pilot Jake Parker ('01-'05) with a career total of 608 rebounds, which put Aerts at 31st all-time in rebounding as a Pilot.
- After collecting three rebounds, Aerts now has 611 career rebounds as a Pilot putting him within six rebounds of Gary Knowles ('79-'83), who had 617 in his career.
- The Cougars bench outscored the Pilots bench 27-5.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pilots travel for their final regular season road game against the Taylor Trojans on Saturday, Feb. 11, with the opening tip scheduled for 3 p.m. on the Regional Radio Sports Network.
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 YouTube at /BethelSportsNetwork.