It wasn't pretty but the Spring Arbor University Cougars found a way to pull out a 72-69 victory over the Bethel College Pilots on Tuesday night to claim their third straight Mid-Central College Conference (MCC) win.

"There are certainly some good things we can take from this game," commented SAU head coach Ryan Cottingham. "It will be important that we continue to learn and make adjustments."

The sophomore tandem of Darby Decker (Tawas City, MI) and Josh Brand (Flint, MI) turned in another solid performance as they combined for 39 points with Decker pumping in a game-high 22 points. Freshmen Justin DeKock (Demotte, IN) and Jared List (Frankenmuth, MI) chipped with 12 and 11 points respectively.

However, it was the play of freshman Aaron List (Frankenmuth, MI) that sparked the Cougars. Despite scoring just six points and grabbing three rebounds List played with tremendous energy and made a difference on both ends of the floor.

"I thought Aaron played the best game of his young career," noted Cottingham. "He's not flashy, but he has such a good understanding of the game and a willingness to do the 'little things'. Aaron is a great team player."

Spring Arbor is back in action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Fort Wayne, IN to take on the University of St. Francis Cougars. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00pm. St. Francis beat SAU 82-69 in their first meeting.