Sports

Pilots fail to answer Trojans’ second half surge, fall 70-57

 -  -  32


The men’s basketball failed to recover after a tough loss at Marian last week as they were overcome by the Trojans of Taylor Tuesday night, Jan. 18. Although both teams played an entertaining first half and the Pilots appeared they could pull away at any minute, the Trojans would eventually slow the tempo down in the second half and defeat Bethel 70-57. Bethel jumped out to an early 4-0 lead over the Trojans; nevertheless, there did not seem to be much momentum on either side in the first half as both offenses executed flawlessly. As a result, the half came to a close with Taylor leading 35-33. However, it was a different story in the second half for the Pilots. As the half began, the visiting Trojans claimed an 11-2 run which gave them a 46-35 advantage. Once Taylor gained their largest lead up until that point, the rest of the half was filled with the Trojans slowing down the tempo and the Pilots not able to knock down shots. Although Bethel was relentless until the end and they continued to wait for the momentum to swing back to their side, the Trojans did not slip and were able to keep the home crowd silent for most of the second half. Ryan Benner had a solid game for the Pilots as he earned 15 points and gathered six rebounds. Joe Welch had a great inside presence as well as he put up 16 points to lead all Bethel scorers. Caleb Laideg contributed eight points, while Darrell Hopkins had a great game off the bench with a dunk and six boards. The Pilots will hope to recover from this loss quickly and end the two game skid as they approach a tough road game this Saturday at Saint Francis at 3:00 p.m. Bethel comes into the game with a conference record of 3-5, while Saint Francis is currently 6-2 in the MCC.
bookmark icon