NORTH NEWTON, Kan. - The Bethel College men's basketball team trailed by double digits in the first half, but fought back before the break and only trailed for 30 seconds in the second half as they came away with the 79-71 upset victory over No. 20 Southwestern.

Bethel opened up the contest scoring the first basket, but Southwestern answered with a 12-3 run to take the advantage. The Threshers struggled to slow down the Moundbuilders for the first ten minutes as they built up an 11 point, 22-11 lead at the ten minute mark. Bethel was able to chip into the lead some before Southwestern pushed it back to 12 with just over eight minutes left in the opening frame.

The Threshers rattled off 13 unanswered points to take a 34-32 advantage with two minutes left. Southwestern scored the next four points, taking a two point advantage before Bryant Mocaby knocked home a shot that barely beat the buzzer as he was fading away putting Bethel up 37-36 going into halftime.

After both teams traded points to begin the second half, Bethel took a lead at the 17:18 mark on a Clifford Byrd II made three point basket and never relinquished it. Over the next few minutes Bethel was able to push their lead to as much as eight points on multiple occasions and weren't able to get past that hump until Jared Richardson made a layup that finally put BC up 10 points. That layup was part of Richardson's seven straight points he scored for Bethel.

From the seven and a half minute mark on, Bethel never led by less than five points and had a lead as large as 11 points. The Threshers made their free throws down the stretch to keep the Moundbuilders at bay and hold on for the 79-71 victory.

Key Statistic
 
Despite their slow start, Bethel shot over 48% in the first half, including 50% from three point range as they were able to outscore Southwestern by 13 points in the final eight minutes of the opening period.
 
By The Numbers
 
34 of Bethel's 79 points came from the painted area.

The Threshers pulled in just 3 offensive boards, coming away with 7 second chance points.
 
Bethel was out rebounded by Southwestern by two, 39-37.

All nine Threshers that played scored in the victory, four in double figures led by Clifford Byrd II's team high 17 points.

Jared Richardson finished with a career high 16 points while Bryant Mocaby added in 13 points and Christion Whitaker had a career high 10 points. 
 
Thresher Leaders
 
Points: Clifford Byrd II (17)
 
Rebounds: Carmelo Yakubu (7)
 
Assists: Carmelo Yakubu (4)
 
Steals: Clifford Byrd II, Jalyn Todd (2)
 
Blocks: Jalyn Todd (3)
 
Next Up

The Threshers will be back in action on Saturday, February 18th as they host the McPherson College Bulldogs for Senior Night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM as senior night festivities will take place between the women's and men's games. The Threshers will also be honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Conference Championship team at halftime.