| (Box Score) Goshen, IN — With visiting Bethel College holding a 59-58 lead with 4:17 remaining in Saturday’s Mid-Central Conference cross-town rivalry, a jam-packed Roman Gingerich Center crowd did its best to will the Goshen College men’s basketball team to a win.
Unfortunately, the crowd couldn’t keep the Leafs’ shots from going halfway down and coming out.
Goshen (11-15, 3-9) suffered a scoreless, three-minute stretch in the game’s final 4:17, helping the Pilots push ahead to a 71-65 win in the most bitter of fashions. After six ties and 11 lead changes throughout the afternoon, it was Bethel that came away with the necessary possessions late, completing just the second series’ sweep over the Leafs in the last six years.
“Today was a great environment for our players, and our fans made it a high-intensity type of atmosphere,” said Stan Daugherty, Goshen head coach. “I thought we played fairly well and focused for the majority of the game, but our stretch late in the game prevented us from having a good chance to win today. We put ourselves in a position to win, but close college basketball games come down to half court execution on both ends. Bethel made plays late, and we didn’t.”
With a halftime tribute to the 2006 MCC and NAIA regional champion Goshen men’s soccer team in the works, Saturday’s scene was buzzing from the outset. An early 7-4 Leafs’ lead sparked an even higher state of intensity, as a nip and tuck first period followed. After freshman Hugh Weiskittel canned a runner in the lane and sophomore Sam Boldman followed with a three pointer to give the Leafs a 32-28 lead with 1:21 remaining in the first half, Bethel responded with a basket to make it a 32-30 Goshen lead at the break. Ten of the contest’s 11 lead changes and five of its ties occurred in the first 20 minutes of play, with the teams nearly even in every statistical category.
The start of the second half gave a strong favoring to Bethel, however, as the visitors went on a 13 to three run to open up a 43-35 lead with 16:27 remaining. Goshen missed five of its first six shots from the field and committed four turnovers in that stretch, all before back-to-back baskets from junior Brice Hartman began to turn the tide. A Hartman layup with 11:19 on the clock made it a 48-46 Bethel lead, but the Pilots would not go away. A quick, five to nothing Pilots’ run pushed the visitors’ lead back to eight points (53-46 with 10:22 to play) before Goshen would again start to chip away.
After trailing by a 56-50 score with 9:14 on the clock, senior Matt Crawford scored a put-back layup. Weiskittel drained a pair of free throws on Goshen’s next possession, and a pair of free throws from Crawford made it a 58-56 Bethel lead with 4:55 to play.
After the Pilots converted one of two freebies on their next trip, it was Crawford scoring again for the Leafs, making a nifty up and under move to bring the Roman Gingerich Center faithful to their feet.
Crawford’s basket made it a 59-58 Bethel lead with 4:17 to play.
Goshen’s side of the scoreboard would not change until just 55 seconds remained.
Four consecutive missed shots and a turnover from the Leafs helped the Pilots build a 67-58 lead with 1:14 to play, when a layup from senior David Haire finally stopped the scoreless stretch with :55 on the clock. Goshen produced a pair of defensive stops during the Pilots’ run, but could not capitalize on five straight possessions. The final three shots of that drought — all from Hartman — literally went halfway down before harmlessly rimming out.
“It’s a really fine line for a team like us,” Daugherty said. “When we’ve done well and won some close games, we’ve stepped up and made those shots. We had some good looks tonight (during that stretch) that just didn’t go down. We continued to fight, but just couldn’t get scores. I never questioned our effort.”
Forced to foul to extend the game, Goshen received several blessings from the Pilots. Bethel made one of two free throws following Haire’s layup, and freshman Errick McCollum made two on the Leafs’ next trip. Trailing 62-68, Goshen again was fortunate off of a Pilots’ miss at the free throw line, and Haire had a look at a three pointer with 31 seconds remaining.
His shot was perfectly on line.
Only it was long.
Bethel went on to make three of its final four charity attempts, preserving the six-point win in the process.
McCollum paced Goshen’s scoring efforts notching a team-high 16 points to go with eight assists and five rebounds. Haire shot the ball well scoring 13 points on four of seven shooting from the field. Hartman scored 11 points, while senior Willie Frazier grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Boldman and Crawford each scored eight points in the loss.
Daugherty’s team was saddled with the loss despite not allowing a made three pointer from Bethel (the Pilots went zero for 10 from downtown), the first time this season Goshen has not allowed a long ball from an opponent. The close defeat was another bitter pill for the Leafs, as six of the team’s nine MCC losses have come by an average of just 5.7 points.
“We’ve just got to stay with it over the next two weeks,” Daugherty said. “We’re trying to look at our season not as one long race, but as many short races one after the other. We’ve lost some close races, but we’re right there against good opponents. I still believe our best basketball is ahead of us.”
Goshen will return to the road for its next two MCC slates, as the Leafs will next face off against a hot Grace College team on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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Senior David Haire