The first half was a back-and-forth contest until the waning minutes of the period. There were 12 lead changes between the teams and it was just a three-point BC lead until the hosts’ used a 10-2 run to close the first half and carry a 42-31 lead into intermission. Bison senior James Wallace closed a big opening stanza with four points during the spurt.
The Bison dominated the interior in the first 20 minutes, out-scoring the Tomcats 24-4 in the paint and owning a 24-14 rebounding advantage. Wallace notched 14 points and seven boards by the break.
Wallace scored four more early in the second half, as the Green and White scored six of the first eight points to build their biggest lead of the game at 48-33. However, Thiel started chipping away immediately, scoring 10 consecutive points to move within five and later, using a 10-2 run to take a 57-55 lead.
Bethany senior guard Chris Stephens single-handedly put the Bison back in control, as he drained back-to-back treys and hit a pair of free throws to make it 63-57 BC with 7:13 to play. The Green and White’s lead was 74-65 with just under four minutes to go when Thiel made their move. Forward Joe Herrmann started an 11-1 run with a three and then capped it with successive jumpers, the latter of which gave Thiel a 76-75 lead with 58 seconds to play.
The Bison regained the lead on two free throws by Stephens with 49 seconds to play and a foul shot by senior guard Marc Palermo gave Bethany a 78-76 lead with 27 seconds left. Thiel had possession for the rest of the game, but never managed to squeeze a potential tying or winning shot off and the Bison, who last lost a league game at Washington & Jefferson College back on Jan. 19, 2005, escaped with the two-point triumph.
Pacing Bethany’s offense was freshman forward Ryan Besancon, who set career-highs with 20 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Wallace finished with 18 markers and eight caroms and Stephens totaled 13 points and three steals. Junior guard Marcus Adams put together a solid game, amassing two points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
Leading Thiel was Herrmann with 19 points and Brandon Mirizio with 16.
Although the Bison, who return to the court Monday for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Penn State-Altoona, have three games next week, none of them are conference tilts. That means Bethany’s PAC-record winning streak against league foes won’t be put on the line again until Jan. 6 when BC hosts Grove City College.