Feb. 18 – BETHANY, W. Va. – In his final regular season home game with the Bethany College men's basketball team (15-9, 10-5 PAC), senior Delonte' Joyce (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) scored a game-high 28 to help the Bison defeat Grove City College, 77-61 on Wednesday evening.
Grove City jumped out to what would prove to be their largest lead of the game, racing to a 13-6 advantage over the first seven minutes. However, a 9-2 run by the Bison, including two triples by junior Alan Harper (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic), would pull the game back to even at 15-15 with 9:42 remaining in the opening stanza.
The Bison would once again find themselves down with 6:32 to play in the half as the Wolverines took a 21-18 lead on a layup by Scott McSweeney. The Green & White would once again respond, this time embarking on a 12-3 run. Darrian Bruster (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) would open the run with a three, which was followed by buckets from Harper and Joyce.
After a three-pointer by Grove City, Bethany responded with a three from Antonio Rudolph (New Castle, Pa./New Castle), which was followed by a Calique Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) jumper, giving Bethany a six-point lead (30-24) with 39 seconds left in the first half.
The Wolverines would respond with a three late in the waning seconds, and the Bison would settle for a three-point advantage heading into the halftime break.
The biggest run of the contest would belong to the Bison to open the second half of play. After Grove City knotted the game on a three by Brian Giesler, Bethany proceeded on a 26-10 run over the first 10 minutes of the half to pull away into a commanding 16-point advantage.
Harper opened the run with a jumper, which was followed by a pair of free throws from senior Jeff Joynes (Baltimore, Md./Poly). Eventually the lead was pushed to double figures on a fast-break lay-in by Rudolph. Joyce and Bruster then followed suite with back-to-back baskets. After a bucket by Grove City, Joyce finished off the run with a three which gave the Bison a 56-40 lead with 10:30 to play.
A 10-4 run by the Wolverines would shrink the Bethany advantage back to seven (63-56) with 5:20 to play, but a swift answer by Rudolph in the form of his second three pointer of the game pushed the lead back to 10 points and the Green & White never looked back, eventually coming away with the 77-61 victory.
Playing in his 81st game in a Bison uniform, Joyce was sensational, scoring 28 points while adding seven rebounds. The 20-point performance was the 12th of the year for Joyce, and also marked his fifth in the last six contests.
It was not just Joyce, however, that helped to capture the victory for the Bison, as four different players contributed in big ways. Harper was the second leading scorer on the team as he finished with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. It marked the first 20-point game of Harper's career as he also added seven rebounds.
Bruster and Rudolph each played key roles as well. Bruster finished the contest with his third double-double of the season, totaling 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rudolph also stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 10 points to go along with seven assists and six steals.
As a team, the Bison forced Grove City into 22 turnovers, which included 13 Bison steals. Along with Rudolph's six, Joyce added four on the day while Bruster totaled two in the victory.
With the win, as well as a loss by Thiel to Saint Vincent this evening, the Bison have secured at least the fourth seed in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, and will play at least one home playoff game when the tournament starts next week.
The Green & White will finish off their regular season on Saturday, Feb.21 when they travel to Washington, Pa. to take on Washington & Jefferson College. The game is scheduled to follow the women's contest which tips at 1 p.m.
