The win was the Bison’s 17th consecutive, which ties the second longest streak in school history, and their 23rd straight over PAC competition. The victory also raised BC’s mark to 22-4 overall this year, while the Tomcats saw their season end with a 5-22 record.
Thiel, coming off a 73-72 upset of second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College Tuesday in the quarterfinals, stayed with the top-seeded Bison for most of the first half. A trey from Tomcat guard James Beedle cut Bethany’s lead to 23-16 at the midway point of the half. BC then pushed their advantage to double figures for good with a 14-4 spurt over the next five and a half minutes. Matt Drahos, who became the school’s all-time leading rebounder earlier in the half, scored six during the stretch, which helped propel the Green and White to a 47-29 advantage at intermission.
Although the Bison hit just 5-of-18 attempts from the arc in the opening stanza, BC connected on 13-of-16 shots from inside the three-point line. Bethany, who was led by Matt Drahos’s 18 points and nine boards at the break, also converted 14 Thiel turnovers into 17 points.
The visitors were able to hang around for the opening five minutes of the second half, as Thiel matched the Bison score for score. A pair of free throws from Beedle at the 14:55 mark brought the Tomcats within 15 at 57-42. Bethany would take over from there, as back-to-back lay-ups from Mike Drahos followed a trifecta from junior guard Marc Palermo to cap a 12-1 run that swelled the Bison’s lead to 69-43 and Thiel was never closer than 23 the rest of the night.
Bethany finished the game shooting 55.2 percent from the floor and owned a 48-36 rebounding advantage, which was also the same advantage the Bison had in points in the paint. Those numbers allowed BC to overcome 21 turnovers in the game and a 12-for-22 performance from the foul line.
The Bison attack, which scored more than 90 points for the 12th time this season, was led by Matt Drahos. This year’s PAC Player of the Year notched 32 points and 14 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the year. With his second board early in the game, he surpassed Phil Harrison (900) as the all-time leading rebounder in Bethany history, as he now has 913 for his career. Drahos also moved up to second on the all-time scoring list, as he passed Rudy Yaksich (1,890) and now has 1,904 points.
In addition, Matt matched his career-high with six blocks and also made four steals on the defensive end of the court.
Not to be outdone was First Team All-PAC pick Mike Drahos, whose 22-point, 10-rebound effort was his 12th double-double of the year. It’s the 15th time in their careers the brothers have each recorded a double-double in the same game, with Bethany’s record improving to 13-2 in those contests.
The Bison also had a big night in the assist category, as they handed out 28. Leading the way was sophomore Brody Jackson with seven, while senior Scott Mezyk handed out six and senior Josh Polantz gave out five.
Thiel had three players hit for double digits, led by forward Damien Williams with 16. Forward Gary Gates tallied 15 and matched Williams for the team-lead with seven boards, while Andre Jones bucketed 11.
Bethany’s final hurdle to their championship quest will be Waynesburg College. The fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets (17-10) earned the spot opposite the Bison in the title game by knocking off third-seeded Westminster College 87-75 in New Wilmington. Bethany has swept Waynesburg in both games this season and have taken seven straight from the Yellow Jackets, dating back to the 2003 PAC quarterfinals.
Thiel College vs Bethany College 2/23/06 7 p.m. at Bethany, WV At Bethany, WV BETHANY COLLEGE 94, THIEL COLLEGE 70 THIEL COLLEGE (5-22) Damien Williams 6-16 1-2 16; Gary Gates 7-11 0-2 15; Andre Jones 4-10 2-2 11; Stephen Laird 3-5 0-0 8; James Beedle 1-4 2-2 5; Geno Bianco 1-6 1-2 4; Dan Quiring 2-5 0-0 4; Mike Quaglia 1-4 1-2 3; Tony White 1-5 0-0 2; Steffon Radcliff 1-6 0-0 2; Jeffrey Zelonka 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-72 7-12 70. BETHANY COLLEGE (22-4) Matt Drahos 13-18 5-8 32; Mike Drahos 10-15 0-0 22; Scott Mezyk 4-9 0-1 8; Marc Palermo 2-5 2-3 7; Brody Jackson 2-6 0-0 6; Josh Polantz 2-3 0-0 5; Chris Stephens 2-5 0-0 5; James Wallace 1-2 1-2 3; Marcus Adams 0-0 3-4 3; Nate Stoner 1-3 0-0 2; Matt Kubachka 0-0 1-2 1; Bill Grant 0-0 0-0 0; Joe Sprumont 0-1 0-2 0; Carey Palermo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-67 12-22 94. Thiel College................. 29 41 - 70 Bethany College............... 47 47 - 94 3-point goals-Thiel College 9-20 (Damien Williams 3-4; Stephen Laird 2-2; James Beedle 1-2; Andre Jones 1-1; Geno Bianco 1-4; Gary Gates 1-2; Steffon Radcliff 0-1; Tony White 0-2; Mike Quaglia 0-2), Bethany College 8-26 (Mike Drahos 2-4; Brody Jackson 2-5; Matt Drahos 1-2; Josh Polantz 1-2; Marc Palermo 1-4; Chris Stephens 1-3; Nate Stoner 0-2; Scott Mezyk 0-4). Fouled out--Thiel College-None, Bethany College-None. Rebounds-Thiel College 36 (Gary Gates 7; Damien Williams 7), Bethany College 48 (Matt Drahos 14). Assists-Thiel College 12 (Gary Gates 3; Andre Jones 3), Bethany College 28 (Brody Jackson 7). Total fouls-Thiel College 19, Bethany College 12. A-440 PAC Tournament Semifinal Bethany wins 17th straight and advances to PAC title game Saturday at 7:30 pm Bethany's Matt Drahos becomes school's all-time leading rebounder with 913.