It's home sweet home for the men's basketball team as the Cougars defeated Goshen in the Mid Central College (MCC) Conference opening game 62-57. The win lifted SAU's record to 4-5 on the year and 1-0 in the conference. With most of the students having left campus for Thanksgiving break, that didn't mean there wasn't a lot of excitement at Bockwitz Court on Tuesday night. Spring Arbor's four wins have all come at home.

The Cougars built a 35-26 halftime lead on the hot shooting of Willie Pickvet's 12 points and Chris Bellamy's 9 points in the first half. But early in the second half, Goshen went on an 11-0 run to take the lead over SAU 40-39 with 14:28 to go in the game.

With the game tied at 57 a piece with 1:17 left in the contest, Bellamy sealed the victory by knocking down five straight free throws to finish the game with 19 points. Bellamy hit 7 of 10 from the line on the night. Pickvet led the Cougars with a double/double 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The Cougars season point leader, DJ Baisden, was held to 7 points on the night.

"We'll take the win," stated Head Coach, Ryan Cottingham. "We're still learning how to win games. It was nice to see some guys step up tonight. DJ has played well for us, but they really keyed on him tonight."

The guys will play again at Bockwitz Court on Tuesday night at 7:00 when Marian College comes to town in another MCC Conference tilt.