GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Bethel Men's Basketball held off Cornerstone 82-77 on Saturday afternoon for its second win of the season. The Pilots built a 16-point second-half lead, but the Cornerstone cut it to three on a Levi Schultz three with 10 seconds left before Jackson Ullom made two free throws to seal it. Luke McBride led Bethel with 24 points, including five threes, while Ethan Edwards added 22 off the bench and Caedmon Bontrager scored 17.
QUICK FACTS
Location: Mol Arena | Grand Rapids, Mich.
Game Results: Bethel def. Cornerstone 82-77
Records: Bethel - 2-1 | Aquinas - 1-3
NAIA Top-25: BU - RV | CU - NR
GAME RECAP
FIRST HALF
- Cornerstone opened on a 5-0 run, with Bird scoring on a jumper and a three off a Myles Steffen assist. McBride answered with a jumper off a Jameir Jefferson assist, Jefferson added a layup off an offensive rebound, and Bontrager's layup tied it at 8-8 with 16:00 left.
- McBride's three off an Ullom assist made it 11-8, and Bird's three tied it at 11-11. Edwards then worked the offensive glass for a jumper and a three off a Jefferson assist to put Bethel ahead 16-13 with 12:24 left, and the Pilots led the rest of the way.
- Bethel went on a 6-0 run, with a Jefferson layup and free throw and a McBride three off a steal and an Ullom assist, to lead 22-15 with 10:26 left. The Pilots followed with an 8-2 stretch, with Bontrager, Edwards and Giorgi Shalikiani scoring in the paint, for a 30-19 lead with 6:56 to go.
- Cornerstone trimmed it to 33-24 on a Bird three, but Bontrager's layup off a McBride assist made it 35-24 with 3:46 left. Jackson Wiegerink's three cut it to 35-27 with 1:11 remaining.
- Edwards closed the half with threes at the 0:35 and 0:03 marks, finishing with 15 first-half points as Bethel took a 41-27 lead into the break. The Pilots shot 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) in the half and grabbed seven offensive rebounds.
SECOND HALF
- McBride hit a three off an Ullom assist and Bontrager added one off a McBride assist to open the second half for a 47-32 lead. Shalikiani scored on his third straight attempt after two offensive rebounds, and McBride's jumper made it 51-35 with 16:26 remaining, Bethel's largest lead of the game at 16.
- Cornerstone chipped away behind Myles Steffen's layups and a Wiegerink three off an Andy Mora assist, outscoring Bethel 10-6 to cut it to 57-45 with 11:10 left. McBride answered with a three off a Jefferson assist.
- A Bird three and a Mora three-point play helped Cornerstone close within 62-53 with 7:43 left, but Edwards scored off an offensive rebound, Ullom hit a three off a Jefferson assist, and Bontrager made three free throws to push the lead to 70-57 with 5:03 remaining.
- Cornerstone answered with a 9-2 run, with Myles Everingham's free throws, two Schultz layups and three Bird free throws, to make it 72-66 with 2:26 left. Edwards hit a jumper and McBride a three off an Ullom assist, and Bethel led 77-69 with 1:12 to go.
- Cornerstone refused to go away. Wiegerink hit a three off a Mora assist to make it 78-72 with 38 seconds left, and Schultz's layup and three after Edwards' free throw cut it to 80-77 with 10 seconds remaining. Ullom made both free throws with five seconds left, and Bird's three-point try at the buzzer missed.
- Cornerstone scored 50 second-half points on 17-of-30 shooting, but Bethel committed just three second-half turnovers.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Pilots out-rebounded Cornerstone 41-27, and their 16 offensive rebounds led to 26 second-chance points compared to seven for the hosts.
- Bethel's bench outscored Cornerstone's 30-4, led by Edwards' 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and nine rebounds, five of them offensive.
- McBride went 5-of-7 from three for a team-high 24 points, and Bethel hit 11 of 28 threes (39.3 percent) as a team.
- Bethel committed only eight turnovers, which led to nine Cornerstone points, while Bethel scored eight points off Cornerstone's six.
KEY PILOTS
- Luke McBride - 24 pts, 8-12 FG, 5-7 3PT, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl
- Ethan Edwards - 22 pts, 9-14 FG, 3-7 3PT, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl
- Caedmon Bontrager - 17 pts, 6-13 FG, 2-5 3PT, 8 reb
NEXT UP
- 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.
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