Box Score

Bethel (Ind.) BC 24-3, 14-1 CL

Spring Arbor (Mich.) SAU 16-11, 8-7 CL

Bethel (Ind.) BC

24-3, 14-1 CL

Final

Feb. 07, 2017

Spring Arbor (Mich.) SAU

16-11, 8-7 CL

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Bethel (Ind.) BC	41	35	76
Spring Arbor (Mich.) SAU	34	40	74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM

No. 3 Bethel survives upset bid from Men's Basketball

Next Game:

at Grace

2/11/2017 | 3:00 PM

Next Game

Full Schedule

Feb. 11 (Sat) / 3:00 PM

at Grace

History

Recap
Roster

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University men's basketball team came up just short of knocking off a Top 10 opponent for the third time this season on Tuesday night, but No. 3 ranked Bethel College escaped with a 76-74 triumph over the Cougars.

Spring Arbor trailed all night but, in front of an electric crowd, refused to go away, nearly erasing a 15 point second half deficit. The Cougars had a chance at a game-winning shot in the final seconds but the attempt came up empty and the league-leading Pilots survived with their 13th straight win.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Spring Arbor 74, #3 Bethel 76

LOCATION: SAU Fieldhouse | Spring Arbor, Mich.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 16-11 (8-7 CL), Bethel 24-3 (14-1 CL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Spring Arbor and Bethel entered the contest as two of the Crossroads League's hottest teams. The Pilots, who could clinch the regular season league title with a win, had won 12 consecutive contests, while the Cougars had prevailed in five straight home games.
Bethel grabbed the upper hand early, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead following a pair of SAU turnovers. Spring Arbor found its rhythm though and, behind Zach Medendorp and Xavier Prather, went on a 10-2 run to take the lead.
The two teams went back and forth for the next 10 minutes with SAU answering every punch thrown by Bethel. The visitors appeared ready to break the game open late in the half, however, using a 10-0 run to take a 41-25 lead with 2:09 remaining in the period.
After a quiet start to the game, Caleb Hogans caught fire in the last two minutes of the half. Hogans ignited the crowd hitting three triples, including one just before the buzzer, and helped the Cougars cut the deficit to seven, 41-34, at the break.
Bethel regrouped and came out of the locker room red-hot, hitting four of its first five shots to boost its lead to 15, 49-34.
Spring Abor showed its poise though and clawed its way back into the game. Paul Marandet started a run with a three-pointer and Hogans followed with two more triples to get SAU within six.
The Cougars would close the gap to two, 61-59, at the 7:39 mark, but the Pilots responded with back-to-back three's to regain a comfortable margin.
Trailing by nine, 75-66, with 4:34 remaining, Spring Arbor held the league's top scoring team without a point for the next four minutes allowing the Cougars to go on an 8-0 SAU run to make it a one point game. Marandet hit a pair of clutch free throws with 44 seconds left to cut BC's lead to 75-74.
After a missed Bethel free throw, the Cougars brought the ball down the floor in the final seconds looking for the win. Hogans found Thomas Starks corner for a potential game-winning three, but the shot rimmed out.

FOR THE COUGARS

Medendorp finished with a game-high 23 points – his third straight 20-point game. He continues to march towards the 1,000 point mark and currently stands at 992 career points. Hogans poured in 20 points while going a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range.
Starks posted nine points and seven rebounds while Marandet also scored nine points and dished out five assists. Prather added seven points and six boards, and Tommy Hamilton contributed six points off the bench.
Spring Arbor shot 43 percent (23-for-53) on the night, including 8-for-16 from behind the arc. The Cougars also went 20-for-30 from the free throw line.
The loss snapped SAU's streak of five straight home wins.

FOR THE PILOTS

Five Bethel players finished in double figures, led by Gage Ott and Paul Forman with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
The Pilots connected on 46 percent (27-for-59) of their field goal attempts.
Bethel clinched its first Crossroads League regular season championship since 2008-09 and secured one of the league's automatic bids to the national championship.

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will play its next two games on the road. The Cougars will travel to Grace College (13-14, 5-10 CL) on Saturday, Feb. 11 before visiting Goshen College (10-17, 3-12 CL) on Tuesday, Feb. 14.