SWEDES TAKE TWO IN KANSAS WESLEYAN CLASSIC

Salina, Kan. - 21-0 run keys Swede win over Doane

A 21-0 run spanning just under six minutes in the first half was a major factor in Bethany securing its second basketball victory of the season, 67-55, over Doane in the Kansas Wesleyan Classic Friday, improving its record to 2-0.

The Tigers were up 11-9 when Josh Smith knocked down a 3-point basket with the clock at 8:27 to open the floodgates for the Swedes. From there, there was no looking back as they were off and running.

Before Doane could next dent the scoreboard, the Bethany lead had extended to 30-11 and the clock displayed 1:35 left in the half and the Swedes led 30-11.

"We tried to pressure them a little bit," said Dan O'Dowd, Swede Coach, "to take them out of their rhythm so we started pressing them and I don't think they handled it very well."

Once the pressure started to take effect on the Tigers, the Swedes forced them into 12 first half turnovers and came up with nine steals as the transition game was in top form.

"Our defense was pretty good and we followed our game plan with what we were trying to accomplish on the defensive end. We gave them some open looks that they just didn't make, but it's a good team – a good shooting team. You could see that in the second half."

Justin Brookens led the Swedes in scoring with 17 points while Solomon Clayton added 16. In all, eight men scored points for Bethany.

Saturday, at 1 p.m. Bethany played the Bellevue Bruins to finish off their action in the KW Classic.

Both teams battled leading to a close game that ended with a Swedes win over the Bruins. The Bruins started off scoring first and set the pace for the first few minutes of the game until a jump shot was made by Dylan Smith that put the Swedes up 9-8. Bruins took the lead 9 minutes into the half and scored on a couple jump shots and a free throw, putting the Swedes back 15-20. 

The clock read 3:59 when Justin Brookens made a three point shot making the score 24-25. The Bruins then made a couple free throws extending their one point lead to three points. The Swedes answered back with Malcolm Clayton who made a jump shot followed by a steal and jump shot made by Solomon Clayton, putting the Swedes up 28-27. The Swedes kept the lead in the first half with a three point shot made by Brookens with 55 seconds left on the clock followed by a jump shot made by Solomon Clayton, making the score 33-30. 

The Swedes started off the second half on a good note scoring five points in the first minute extending the lead to 38-30. The Swedes then extended the lead to ten points with a jump shot by Dylan Smith and kept the lead for ten minutes. The Bruins then made a push by scoring a few jumpshots and a freethrow making the score 55-50 with 7:58 left on the clock. 

The Bruins stayed in the game as well as the Swedes making for an intense last two minutes of the game. The Bruins tied the game up with 1:01 left on the clock with a three point shot. Solomon Clayton got fouled and made both free throws with twenty seconds left on the clock, making the score 62-60. The Swedes kept up the effort on defense and secured the win with a steal to end the game 62-60. 

Bethany finished with a shooting percentage of 51 compared to Bellevue's 40.4 shooting percentage. The Swedes had 25 rebounds and 14 assists. Solomon Clayton led the Swedes by scoring 24 points by making 9 out of 13 shots. Dylan Smith had 13 points on the night making 6 out of 9 shots and had 4 steals. 

Up next…

The Bethany College Basketball team will be back on the court Friday, November 11th against Peru State. The non conference game is set to tip off at 7:00PM. 

- #RockarStockar -