GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Bethel Men's Basketball picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday night, rallying from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat Aquinas 71-67. Ethan Edwards sparked the comeback off the bench, scoring all 14 of his points over the final nine minutes on 6-of-7 shooting, including eight in a decisive 13-0 run. Caedmon Bontrager led the Pilots with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The Pilots out-rebounded the Saints 55-39 and scored 35 bench points to Aquinas' 16. The win also marks the first victory at Bethel for head coach David Osborn.
QUICK FACTS
Location: Aquinas College | Grand Rapids, Mich.
Game Results: Bethel def. Aquinas 71-67
Records: Bethel - 1-1 | Aquinas - 2-1
NAIA Top-25: BU - RV | AQ - NR
GAME RECAP
FIRST HALF
- Bontrager scored the game's first basket, a layup off his own offensive rebound. Aquinas then answered with a 9-2 run, led by Caden Pokorzynski's layup and free throw, a David Day jumper, and a Jordan Bledsoe steal and layup for a 9-4 Saints lead.
- The Pilots clawed back behind its bench. Kosta Grubor's fast-break layup came off a Reid Smith steal and assist. Smith then hit a jumper off a Jameir Jefferson assist, and Wandy Munoz added a layup. Andrew Hedrick's jumper off a Luke McBride assist cut it to 15-13 with 8:30 left.
- Aquinas answered with a 7-0 run. A Pokorzynski dunk, Lamont Green-Torbert three, and finally a Green-Torbert fast-break layup after a steal to make it 22-13 with 6:13 left, the Saints' largest first-half lead at nine.
- Bethel cut the lead to seven after Bontrager's layup, set up by Edwards, with 2:21 left. Neither team scored the rest of the half, and Bethel trailed by seven at the break.
- Bethel committed 15 first-half turnovers, which led to 13 Aquinas points, and shot 9-of-29 from the floor, including 0-of-10 from three.
SECOND HALF
- Aquinas stretched its lead to 32-22, its biggest of the game at 10 points, with 18:03 left. Bethel answered with a 6-0 run: a Bontrager free throw, a McBride three off a Jackson Ullom assist, and a Grubor layup, also off an Ullom assist. That made it 36-33 with 16:00 left.
- Aquinas pushed back to 43-35 behind a Green-Torbert three and Jordan McCoy's fast-break three-point play. Giorgi Shalikiani scored on two straight offensive rebounds, and a Bontrager layup off a McBride assist made it 43-41 with 11:47 left.
- Aquinas then went on a 9-2 stretch, with a Mershon Dickerson three, Bledsoe free throws and a Pokorzynski layup, to lead 52-43 with 9:43 left.
- Edwards changed the game from there. He checked in with 9:17 left and hit a jumper 19 seconds later. After a Grubor fast-break layup off a steal, he added another jumper off a Munoz assist to cut it to 52-49 with 6:40 left. Pokorzynski's three-point play pushed the lead back to 55-49 with 5:54 left.
- Edwards then took over on a 13-0 Bethel run over 3:05 of game time. Bontrager scored on a layup off an Edwards assist, and Edwards followed with a three off a Bontrager assist. Dylan Fey hit a fast-break and-one to put Bethel ahead 57-55 for the first time since the opening basket. Edwards then hit another three off a Fey assist and a layup off a Munoz assist for a 62-55 lead with 2:49 left.
- Edwards added another layup to make it 64-57 with 2:07 left. Aquinas cut it to 64-62 in 33 seconds on a Day three and a Pokorzynski fast-break dunk. Bontrager made two free throws, and McBride hit a three off an Ullom assist for a 69-64 lead with 34 seconds left. Green-Torbert answered with a three to make it 69-67 with 19 seconds remaining. Ullom made two free throws with three seconds left, and his steal on the next possession sealed the win.
- As a team, Bethel scored 50 second-half points on 19-of-34 shooting, hit 5 of 7 threes, and committed just four turnovers.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Bethel shot 31.0 percent (9-of-29) in the first half and 55.9 percent (19-of-34) in the second, also cutting their turnovers from 15 to 4.
- The Pilots out-rebounded Aquinas 55-39, and their 15 offensive rebounds led to 22 second-chance points compared to 11 for the Saints.
- Bethel's bench outscored Aquinas' bench 35-16, with Edwards (14), Grubor (10) and Shalikiani (5) combining for 29 of those points.
- Ullom scored only two points, but his four assists set up 10 Bethel points and his three steals included the one that sealed the win.
KEY PILOTS
- Caedmon Bontrager - 20 pts, 8-15 FG, 13 reb, 1 blk
- Ethan Edwards - 14 pts, 6-8 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3 reb, 2 ast
- Luke McBride - 11 pts, 3-6 3PT, 6 reb, 3 ast
- Kosta Grubor - 10 pts, 6 reb
- Jackson Ullom - 2 pts, 4 ast, 3 stl, 3 reb
COACH'S TAKE
"Gritty not pretty. It was a tail of two halves," said Head Coach David Osborn. "Proud of our second half effort to climb out of the hole we put ourselves in. We need to continue to grow in the fundamentals. I'm happy for the guys and grateful for the staffs effort as we begin the season. A lot of work left to do."
NEXT UP
- The Pilots stay on the road for a match up with Cornerstone on Saturday at 3:00 PM.
- Live Stats can be found HERE.
- Live Video can be found HERE.
NEXT HOME GAME
- Bethel returns home on November 10th when they face SMWC at 7:00 PM.
- Live Stats can be found HERE.
- Live Video can be found HERE.
- Tickets can be found HERE.
Follow the Pilots
