SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University men's basketball team opened its five-game homestand with an 81-56 setback suffered at the hands of No. 6 Bethel College in Crossroads League play on Saturday.
The loss dropped the Cougars to 7-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference while the Pilots improved to 11-1 and 2-1 in league play.
Three straight points from junior Greg Hamilton gave SAU a 7-5 lead early in the contest, but back-to-back three-pointers from BC's Clay Yeo and Zach Miller put the Pilots in front for good.
After Bethel extended its lead to 10, 25-15, at the 10:29 mark, Hamilton and sophomore Thomas Starks powered a 14-4 Cougar run to cut the deficit to two with just over six minutes remaining in the half. However, Miller answered immediately for the Pilots with another triple to halt the run. The visitors would eventually push their advantage to 11, 41-30, at halftime.
Senior Collin Hewitt knocked down a three to open the second half, but the Cougar offense would go silent for nearly six minutes allowing the Pilots to stretch their lead to 19 and put the game out of reach.
Bethel, who ranks second in the conference in scoring, shot 55 percent (30-for-55) from the field while holding Spring Arbor to 32 percent (18-for-56). The Pilots also out-rebounded the Cougars 40-30.
Hamilton recorded 16 points to lead the Cougars while adding eight rebounds and five assists. Freshman Zach Medendorp followed with 15 points and four boards. Classmate Drew Zuidema finished with nine points and Starks chipped in seven.
Spring Arbor returns to action against Great Lakes Christian College on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.
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