WINONA LAKE, Ind. --- The Bethel Pilots (3-0) overcame a 46-44 halftime deficit to the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers (1-2) in the second match-up of the Lancer Tip-Off Classic Saturday.

Luke McBride sank half of his triples, going 6-for-12 from beyond the arc and 6-for-14 from the floor for 22 points, along with three other Pilots who went for double-digits. Alonas Peciulis scored 19 points from 7-for-9 shooting and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe, Trent Edwards hit 17 points and 6-for-10 (60%) from the floor, and Preston Phillips drained 11 points from 4-for-9 shooting and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Bethel won the battle of the boards 35-31 and sunk 16 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds.

The Pilots held the Racers to four triples in the first half, then held UNOH 0-for-4 from downtown in the second half and lived on the free-throw line, shooting 21-30 as a team and 13-20 in the second half alone.

The first half was knotted up 16-16 at 12:12 when Andrew Hedrick hit a mid-range-jumper followed by Alonas Peciulis sinking two from the charity stripe.

Austin Cripe splashed a three at 10:19 to get ahead of a 20-20 tie and jumped to a six-point lead from McBride's triple at 9:44, 26-20.

At 7:06 in the first half, Colin Comer hit the three that put the Pilots up by 11, but UNOH laid one off the glass on the next possession before Trent Edwards hit a double to get back to 11.

The Racers shaved down the lead and tied the half with a pair at the free-throw line 44-44, then hit a layup with 14 seconds to go in the half and went into halftime up 46-44.

Bethel raced to a 10-point advantage with Peciulis' fastbreak layup at 13:41, then grew to a 14-point lead after Edwards' two buckets at the line, followed by a Peciulis layup at 9:18 71-57.

The rest of the half remained in a double-digit Pilot favor until 26 seconds left in regulation, where UNOH hit one last jumper to end the game 87-79.

Bethel won their second all-time game against the Racers since Oct. 31, 2014, to improve to 2-0, both on neutral territory. 

The next game for BU is on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. against the IU-South Bend Titans in the Gates Gymnasium, where the Men's Basketball team partners with a Bethel Sports Management class to raise money for 13-year-old Ella Hunt, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

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