MISHAWAKA – The Bethel College men’s basketball team defeated Andrews University 78-54 Wednesday night.

The Pilots, who were missing Gage Ott due to an injury,relied on the inside freshman duo of Paul Forman and Luke Fisher, as well as looking to the bench for support due to early foul trouble in the win.

Andrews would get out to a quick 8-2 lead after the Cardinals knocked down two quick threes, but the Pilots would come back making a run of their own going on a 21-5 run, led by junior Clay Yeo, who put up 10 of the 21 points during the run. After getting into foul trouble during the first half, the Pilots went to the bench and received a spark from junior Jordyn Coon and sophomore Juwan Carpenter.

The Pilots entered halftime leading 36-22, going 13-29 from the field and shooting 44 percent. Yeo led all scorers with 16 points, while Jordyn Coon added nine points and five rebounds. Andrews headed into the locker room going 7-26 and shooting 27 percent from the field. Four of the Cardinals seven field goals would come from behind the arc, as they shot a solid 44 percent. The Cardinals were 3-17 inside the three point line for the first half.

As they entered the second half, the Pilots run from the first half continued as they displayed a 25-5 advantage over the Cardinals. In the second half the Pilots got everyone involved, with 11 different players scoring and contributing on both ends.

Yeo, a former star at Triton High School, led all scorers with 22 points in the game, while Luke Fisher contributed 13 points of his own, all coming in the second half. Coon, who played at WCHS,  added 11, while Forman scored 10 of his own. The Pilots got a lift from their bench tonight as they scored 28 of the 78 points and grabbed 20 of the 38 rebounds. The Pilots shot 44 percent from the field, but struggled behind the arc, only going 2-13.

Andrews was led in scoring by senior Tim McGuire, who had 18 points, shot 4-7 from beyond the arc and added five rebounds. Junior Kris Owens added 12 points for the Cardinals, shooting 4-12 from the field. The Cardinals would go 17-51 from the field, with eight of their field goals coming from the three-point stripe. The Cardinals now move to 0-5 in their season.

The Pilots, who improved to 2-0, will next play in the Best Western Tournament at Goshen College on Friday and Saturday. The Pilots will first face off against Lawrence Technological University at 8 p.m. on Friday. The Pilots squeaked out a victory against a hard-nosed Lawrence Tech team at home last year 75-72. The Pilots will then turn around to play Moody Bible Institute at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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