Cold shooting early took the Bethel College men’s basketball team out of the game against Bacone College 69-45 Friday at the Friends Classic at Garvey Gym in Wichita.
The loss sets Bethel back to 1-3. Bacone, an NAIA Division I team, improves to 2-1.
Bethel gave up a big run in each half.
“Right now, it’s a confidence issue,” Bethel coach Mark Yoder said. “We played well early — both halves. But once we give up a streak, we have a hard time stopping it. The problem is we have a hard time scoring. Then our defense takes a hit. We’re playing good teams.”
Ronnie Battle led Bacone, 2-1, with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jonathan Weekes added 10 points.
“We couldn’t stop (Battle) at all,” Yoder said. “He just destroyed anybody who guarded him. They just killed us inside. (Weekes) really hurt us. (Reserve center Terrance Roby) really hurt us inside with his size.”
Bethel was led by Robert Wright with seven points. John Watson III, Trey Ronnebaum and Justin Schneider scored six points each.
Bethel took a 14-10 lead early but gave up an 11-0 run. Bethel added just one more field goal in the period, a Watson jumper. A Milen Brown shot while laying on the ground with five seconds left in the half put Friends up 31-16.
Bethel was six of 25 shooting in the first half, while Bacone was 12 of 25.
Bethel made a 6-0 run to open the second half. Bacone answered with the next four. The two teams then proceded to trade points for about the next five minutes. Bacone put the game away with a 15-0 run. A Robert Wright trey with 8:09 left broke the Bacone run.
Bethel put in its reserves with about 6 1/2 minutes remaining. Bacone left some of its starters in for about the next two minutes.
“We got to get everybody in,” Yoder said. “That’s going to help us. Everybody got some minutes tonight. We finally have a JV game Monday at Hesston. We have to be patient.”
Bethel takes on Oklahoma Wesleyan at 2 p.m. today. OWU is the NAIA Division II defending national champions. Bethel played them to within five points last year.
“We get Matt Regier back on Monday,” Yoder said. “He brings a lot of confidence and toughness. Hopefully, he’ll help the younger guys get better.”
BACONE (2-1) — Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Richardson 0-1 2-2 2, Tyler 1-6 0-0 2, Juneil 2-4 0-0 4, Elix 4-6 1-2 9, Weekes 5-8 0-0 10, Brown 2-7 2-2 6, Eubanks 2-5 1-2 6, Battle 8-16 2-2 20, Walker 2-2 0-0 2, Kanedy 0-1 0-0 0, Roby 2-5 2-2 6, TOTALS 28-62 10-12 69.
BETHEL (1-3) — Riggs 1-2 0-0 3, Gingerich 1-6 0-0 3, Regier 0-0 1-2 1, Bumgarner 0-1 0-0 0, Wright 3-6 0-0 7, Watson 3-7 0-2 6, Grove 0-5 0-0 0, Sullivan 0-3 0-0 0, Baldia 0-3 4-5 4, Ronnebaum 2-5 2-2 6, Cumminns 0-2 0-2 0, Benton 2-4 0-1 4, Yunker 0-0 2-2 2, Schneider 3-7 0-0 6, Pitts 1-5 0-0 3, TOTALS 16-56 9-16 45.
Bacone 31 38 —69
Bethel 16 29 —45
Total fouls — Bac. 17, Btl. 11. 3-point shooting — Bac. 3-13 (Allen 0-1, Tyler 0-2, Juneil 0-1, Brown 0-1, Eubanks 1-2, Battle 2-5, Kanedy 0-1), Btl. 4-22 (Riggs 1-2, Gingerich 1-5, Bumgarner 0-1, Wright 1-2, Watson 0-2, Grove 0-2, Sullivan 0-2, Baldia 0-1, Ronnebaum 0-1, Cummins 0-1, Schneider 0-1, Pitts 1-2). Rebounds — Bac. 46 (Battle 10), Btl. 33 (Watson 5, Benton 5). Assists — Bac. 10 (Elix 3), Btl. 9 (Gingerich 3). Turnovers — Bac. 15 (Juneil 4), Btl. 19 (Watson 4). Blocked shots — Bac. 1 (Roby 1), Btl. 1 (Watson 1). Steals — Bac. 12 (Richardson 3), Btl. 4 (four with 1).
