Bethany College senior forward Matt Drahos had 25 points and senior forward Mike Drahos nearly recorded a triple-double, as the Bison men's basketball team defeated Keystone College 103-89 in the first round of the Radisson/Carnegie Mellon University Tournament Saturday.
The Bison improve to 2-2 and will play either Carnegie Mellon or Oberlin College in the championship game Sunday at 3 p.m. Keystone falls to 1-3 and will play in the consolation game at 1 p.m.
A lay-up by Matt Drahos gave Bethany a 15-9 lead five minutes into the game, but Keystone came back to tie it at 21 at the midway point of the half. The Bison took control from there, going on a 15-5 run to take a 10-point lead. The Giants were able to get within eight with just under two minutes to play before halftime, but BC scored nine of the final 11 points before the break to take a 52-37 lead into the locker room.
Bethany shot 61 percent in opening half and buried eight three-pointers in 15 attempts (53 percent), including three by senior Scott Mezyk.
Five minutes into the second half, the Giants made their move to get back into the contest. Bethany built their lead to 68-50 but Keystone's Tunde Ogunleye scored six points in a 13-6 spurt that cut the BC lead to 72-61 with 11:25 to play.
From there, the Drahos bothers took over, as they combined to score the next nine points and Bethany went on a 14-0 roll to seal the victory. The Bison committed 31 turnovers for the game, which led to 28 Keystone points, but balanced it out by shooting 59 percent for the game and holding a 39-31 advantage on the glass.
In scoring over 20 points for the third time in four games this season, Matt Drahos hit eight of 12 shots from the floor and was 9-11 from the foul line. Mike Drahos, who had just two points at halftime, finished with 13 markers, 15 boards and seven assists. Senior guard Josh Polantz poured in a season-high 15, while Mezyk and junior Chris Stephens both scored 12.
Keystone was led by Darnell Reed with 16 and Robert Cash with 14 in the loss.
Keystone College vs Bethany College 11/26/05 1:00 pm at Pittsburgh, Pa. At Pittsburgh, Pa. BETHANY COLLEGE 103, KEYSTONE COLLEGE 89 KEYSTONE COLLEGE (1-3) Reed, Darnell 6-8 3-4 16; Cash, Robert 5-6 4-6 14; Ogunleye, Tunde 3-9 4-4 10; Edwards, Charles 3-8 3-3 9; Stone, Andre 4-9 0-0 9; Murrille, Mark 2-2 2-4 7; Brown, Harry 3-4 0-0 6; Spence, Marcus 2-5 1-2 6; Erb, Kevin 2-7 1-1 5; Dennis, Rashawn 2-10 1-2 5; Rogers, Ben 1-4 0-0 2; Murphy, Chris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-72 19-26 89. BETHANY COLLEGE (2-2) Matt Drahos 8-12 9-11 25; Josh Polantz 4-8 7-9 18; Mike Drahos 4-7 4-4 13; Chris Stephens 5-7 0-0 12; Scott Mezyk 3-6 0-0 9; Marc Palermo 2-2 4-4 9; James Wallace 3-7 2-3 8; Brody Jackson 2-3 1-1 6; Joe Sprumont 1-2 0-0 2; Bill Grant 0-0 1-2 1; Matt Kubachka 0-0 0-0 0; Nate Stoner 0-0 0-0 0; Carey Palermo 0-0 0-0 0; Chris Strcula 0-0 0-0 0; Marcus Adams 0-0 0-0 0; Imani Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-54 28-34 103. Keystone College.............. 37 52 - 89 Bethany College............... 52 51 - 103 3-point goals-Keystone College 4-20 (Spence, Marcus 1-2; Stone, Andre 1-4; Reed, Darnell 1-1; Murrille, Mark 1-1; Erb, Kevin 0-2; Rogers, Ben 0-2; Edwards, Charles 0-4; Ogunleye, Tunde 0-4), Bethany College 11-21 (Scott Mezyk 3-6; Josh Polantz 3-6; Chris Stephens 2-3; Mike Drahos 1-1; Brody Jackson 1-2; Marc Palermo 1-1; Matt Drahos 0-2). Fouled out--Keystone College-None, Bethany College-None. Rebounds-Keystone College 31 (Dennis, Rashawn 4; Ogunleye, Tunde 4; Erb, Kevin 4; Cash, Robert 4), Bethany College 39 (Mike Drahos 15). Assists-Keystone College 15 (Spence, Marcus 3; Reed, Darnell 3), Bethany College 25 (Mike Drahos 7). Total fouls-Keystone College 25, Bethany College 22. A-127 Game 1 of Radisson/Carnegie Mellon Tournament