Both teams got off to a rather sluggish start as the offenses had a difficult time finding the basket. As a result, the Pilots held an 11-10 lead at the 10:56 mark of the period. However, Bethel then went on a big 18-5 run to extend their lead to 29-15 with 4:27 left until the break. And when Bethel�s Wes Laidig hit a bucket just before half, the Pilots had their largest lead at intermission, 40-21.

The second half began with the Pilots scoring the first four points to extend to a 44-21 advantage, and the margin grew steadily throughout the rest of the game. A basket from Jordan Bowerman at the 9:48 mark gave the Pilots a 30 point cushion (61-31), and a field goal from Derek Moser with 1:08 remaining gave the Pilots their largest lead of the contest at 87-52.

Balanced scoring has been a strength for Bethel all season and this game was certainly no exception as six Pilots hit for double figure scoring. Leading the way was Tony Benford with 14 points and 9 rebounds followed by Tyler Brown with 13 points to go with 9 boards. Jordan Bowerman came off the bench to score 12 points for the Pilots while Ryne Lightfoot, Wes Laidig and Derek Moser each tallied 10 points for the game. Lightfoot accounted for a game high 7 assist, and Caleb Laidig grabbed 10 rebounds for the Pilots.

As a team, Bethel dominated in several statistical areas. The Pilots shot 54% from the field while holding Marian to just 34% shooting. And Bethel held a commanding 52-20 rebounding advantage.

Afterwards, Bethel head coach Mike Lightfoot commented: �I thought our guys put forth a solid defensive effort from start to finish tonight. Keeping them off the boards and limiting them to one shot really helped jump start us offensively. We struggled early, but things began clicking once we got our transition game going.��

Bethel will return to action on Saturday afternoon as they will host the No. 21 ranked Spring Arbor University Cougars in semifinal action of the 2010 MCC Tournament. Tip-off is set for 3:00pm in the Wiekamp Athletic Center.

The Ritz File

• A strong pass first team leader who can finish at the rim or pull up and score when needed. �
• Has a solid mid range jumper to go with outstanding ball handling skills �
• Started for Mike Hackett the first game of his sophomore year and is now a third year starter. �
• A true student of the game and coach on the floor for Coach Hackett while running multiple offensive and defensive sets and variations throughout the game. �
• Currently has won 57 of his last 62 games at Munster including a 4A final four appearance last year. �
• Munster has won the Northwest Crossroads Conference title for the last three years while going undefeated in conference play. �
• Currently leads the team in assists per game and has over a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. �
• Tied the Munster single game record for assists with 13. �
• Is currently shooting 85% from the free throw line this year. �
• Currently carries a 4.13 GPA (On a 4.0 Scale) at Munster, mostly taking Advanced Placement coursework.� �
• Kyle is National Honor Society Member and scored a perfect 800 on the SAT Math Exam. �
• Kyle will pursue an Accounting / Business Major at Bethel.

First Team All-MCC

• Errick McCollum II (Goshen) (PLAYER OF THE YEAR)

• Zach Coverstone (IWU)

• Ryne Lightfoot (Bethel)

• DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis (St. Francis)

• DJ Baisden (SAU)

Second Team All-MCC

• David Swanson (Grace)

• Jordan Tucker (Marian)

• Kellen Zawadzki (Huntington)

• Spencer Harris (IWU)

• Wes Laidig (Bethel)

Third Team All-MCC

• Tyler Brown (Bethel)

• Rob Boss (SAU)

• Casey Coons (Taylor)

• Duke Johnson (Grace)

• Tyler Shively (Huntington)

MCC Honorable Mention

• Q. Owens (USF)

• W. Huburtz (IWU)

• L. Smith (HU)

• N. West (Goshen)

• W. Pickvet (SAU)

• E. Smith (Grace)

• C. Laidig (Bethel)

• R. Hetrick (IWU)

• A. Sylvester (Marian)

• T. Peller (Taylor)

• B. Malone (Marian)

• M. Edmonds (USF)

• F. Morales-Soto (USF)

All-MCC Newcomber Team

• Casey Coons (Taylor) (Newcomber of the Year)

• Elliot Smith (Grace)

• Q. Owens (USF)

• Aaron Martin (IWU)

• Tony Benford (Bethel)

All-Defensive Team

• Zach Coverstone (IWU)

• Errick McCollum II (Goshen)

• B. Malone (Marian)

• C. Laidig (Bethel)

• S. Harris (IWU)

MCC Coach of the Year

• Ryan Cottingham (SAU)

The game began with the Cougars jumping out to an early 14-9 lead before the Pilots went on a 17-6 spurt to go ahead 26-20. St. Francis answered by cutting the margin to a single point at 28-27 with about 8:00 remaining in the period. That�s when the Pilots went to work using a huge 17-2 run to take control of the game 45-29 late in the half. And when Bethel�s Ryne Lightfoot connected on a 15 foot bucket at the horn, the Pilots went to the break with an impressive 53-34 advantage.

The second half began with Bethel converting the first four points to increase the margin to 57-34 before the Cougars mounted a bit of a comeback effort. Using a 12-4 run, St. Francis cut the difference to fifteen at 61-46. However, the Pilots never allowed the margin to get any closer as they out-scored USF 16-7 over the next few minutes to take a 77-53 lead heading into the game�s final 10:00 of action. As time ran down, Bethel senior, Derek Moser capped the Pilot scoring for the day with a field goal making the final score 95-68.

The Bethel offensive and defensive efforts were equally outstanding in this contest. Leading the Pilots was Ryne Lightfoot who tallied 21 points to go with 6 assists for the game. As a result, Ryne went over the 2,000 point mark in his career, now with 2,011. Caleb Laidig likewise turned in a stellar performance with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Tyler Brown contributed 18 points and 4 assists while Tony Benford chipped in with 13 points and 2 assists. In addition, Wes Laidig tallied 8 points, and Jordan Bowerman had a solid game for the Pilots with 6 points and 6 boards.

As a team, the Pilots were excellent in several areas. From the field, Bethel connected on a blistering 61% of their shots while holding the Cougars to just 35% shooting. From behind the three-point arc, Bethel hit on 5 of 9 attempts for 56% while the Cougars managed just 17% from long range (4 for 23). From the charity stripe, the Pilots were good on 22 of 27 attempts (82%) and won the rebounding battle 40-27.

�This was a great way for our seniors to end the regular season,� stated Bethel head coach, Mike Lightfoot. �The guys played very well and we needed some quality minutes from our bench. Jordan Bowerman played a great game and stepped in nicely for an injured Wes Laidig. It was fun to watch us play today.�

The 2010 MCC Tournament gets underway on Wednesday night, February 24th when the Pilots (the number two seed) will host the Marian University Knights at 7:00 pm in the Wiekamp Athletic Center.

The Pilots jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before the Trojans could score their first basket three minutes into the contest. The margin grew to sixteen at 24-8 midway thru the first half. Late in the period, the Bethel lead hit a game-high eighteen at 37-19 with 1:46 left until intermission. A bucket from Tyler Brown with 0:03 left sent the Pilots to the break leading 39-23.

The second half began with the Pilots and Trojans exchanging baskets over the first 10:00 of the stanza. However, Taylor managed to trim the deficit to just 58-50 with 7:12 left in regulation. The Pilots responded by quickly increasing the lead back to 12 (62-50) at the 4:31 mark and the Trojans were unable to get any closer than nine the rest of the way.

The Bethel seniors led the way to victory with Tony Benford tallying 17 points, Tyler Brown scoring 16, Ryne Lightfoot contributing 14 points and 6 assists, and Wes Laidig pouring in 14 points on 7 for 10 shooting from the field. And Derek Moser closed out the scoring for the game by nailing a pair of free throws.

The Pilots will close out the 2009-10 regular season on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Fort Wayne to battle the No. 10 ranked University of St. Francis Cougars at 3:00 pm.

The visiting Titans jumped out to an early 9-4 lead before the Pilots answered with a 16-2 run to take a 20-11 advantage at the 11:41 mark of the period. However, IUSB rallied to pull to with two (29-27) with 7:17 remaining in the half. Another 11-2 spurt pushed the Bethel lead back to eleven at 40-29. After an exchange of baskets, the teams went to the intermission with the Pilots leading 44-34.

In the second half of action, Bethel used a solid defensive effort to steadily build their advantage to fifteen (58-43) at the 14:15 mark, and then to a game-high nineteen at 82-63 with 2:16 remaining in the contest.

Offensively, the Pilots were led by Tyler Brown who tallied 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Ryne Lightfoot scored 18 points and handed out three assists while Tony Benford chipped in with 10 points and four steals. Landon Booker and Jordan Bowerman came off the Bethel bench and each contributed nine points in the victory. Joey Welch led the way on the boards by hauling down a game-high 12 rebounds and scored six points.

Defensively, Bethel held the Titans to just 36% shooting from the field and forced 21 turnovers. In addition, Bethel won the rebounding battle by a 42-34 margin.

Next up, is a Tuesday night encounter with the Taylor University Trojans at the Wiekamp Athletic Center. It will be Senior Night as Bethel will honor five seniors in a game set to tip-off at 7:00pm.

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In a game that turned out to be a sloppy shooting and foul plagued affair, the Pilots jumped out to a 10-4 lead on a snowy night in Indianapolis. Bethel continued to build a lead in the first half and held its largest lead of the contest at the 14:23 mark of the first half at 15-6. From that point, however, the scrappy Knights squad began to battle back and eventually took a 21-19 lead on a Knights jumper at the 7:18 mark. Marian eventually carried a three point lead into the locker room at 32-29.

Things began to unravel in the second half as neither team was able to get into an offensive rhythm with 48 fouls called on the night. Marian took advantage of the charity shots shooting 27-35 from the line to build a double digit lead midway through the second half. The Pilots were never really able to challenge the Knights in the second half as they shot 38% (23-61) from the field and an abysmal 14% (3-21) from beyond the arc.

The Pilots had four players foul out on the night including leading scorer Tyler Brown who took his 19 points and 14 rebounds to the bench with 5:49 remaining in the contest. Ryne Lightfoot and Caleb Laidig each added 10 points a piece on the night.

The win for the Knights evens their season record at 12-12 and 4-9 in the MCC while the Pilots fall to 22-5 and 10-4 in the MCC

Next up, the Pilots go out of conference this Thursday night as they host Indiana University South Bend at the Wiekamp Center starting at 7:00 pm.

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The Foresters jumped out to an early 12-7 lead before the Pilots rallied to go in front 14-12 at the 13:59 mark. The rest of the period was a back and forth battle which featured nine ties and three lead changes. In addition, neither team was able to build more than a four point cushion as the Pilots went to the break with a 36-35 advantage.

The second half began with Huntington hitting a three-point basket to jump back in front 38-36. However, Bethel answered with a critical 12-0 run to assume a 48-38 lead with 15:19 left to play. The Foresters trimmed the deficit to five (51-46) before the Pilots went on another 10-3 spurt to gain control at 61-49. From there, Huntington was unable to get any closer than nine as the Pilots improved their season mark to 22-4 and 10-3 in MCC play.

Leading the way for Bethel was senior, Ryne Lightfoot who tallied 25 points to go with 4 assists. Tyler Brown turned in a double-double effort scoring 16 points while grabbing a game-high 14 boards. Wes Laidig chipped in with 9 points and 4 rebounds, and Caleb Laidig contributed 8 points and 4 assists in the winning effort.

Defensively, Bethel held the Foresters to just 39% shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle 37-30. Meanwhile, the Pilots shot 63% from the field in the second half and finished with 17 assists for the game.

After the game, Bethel head coach, Mike Lightfoot commented: �At halftime, I challenged our seniors to step up and take charge. I told them that they didn�t have many games left, so they needed to make the most of things now. I think it worked because we showed more focus and played with more energy in the second half.�

If you were unable to attend today�s contest, you can see it tonight on WHME-TV Channel 46 at 11:00pm. Meanwhile, the Pilots will be back in action on Tuesday night, February 9th, when they will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Marian College Knights in a game set to tip-off at 7:00pm.

Bethel jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but then went cold over the next six minutes of action as Goshen established a 16-8 advantage midway through the period. The Pilots used a 13-5 run to get even at 21-21, but a three-point basket gave the Maple Leafs a 24-21 lead once again. The Pilots answered with a 10-4 spurt to take the lead 31-28 late in the half. Goshen tallied four points in a row to jump back in front 32-31 with 2.6 seconds left to play. The Pilots then executed the final play of the half to perfection as Ryne Lightfoot took a pass from Joey Welch and nailed a long-range three-point basket at the horn sending Bethel to the break with a 34-32 lead.

The second stanza began with Goshen re-taking the lead 40-39 before the Pilots went on a big 20-5 run to take the largest lead of the game at 59-45 with just over ten minutes left to play. However, the home team rallied to close to within three (66-63) before Wes Laidig converted a basket for Bethel to increase the margin back to five in the closing minutes. A three-point bucket from the Maple Leafs made it 68-66, but that�s as close as they would get as Bethel�s Tyler Brown connected on five of six from the free throw line down the stretch to secure the win.

Bethel was paced offensively by Wes Laidig who tallied 21 points and grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds. Ryne Lightfoot scored 19 points and had 3 assists while Joey Welch contributed 13 points and 7 boards for the contest. Tyler Brown returned to action from a shoulder injury to chip in with 11 points and 3 blocked shots. As a team, the Pilots won the rebounding battle 27-22, and connected on 84% from the charity line (21-25).

The Pilots will be back in action on Tuesday night, February 2nd, when they will travel to Spring Arbor, Michigan to take on the No. 23 ranked Cougars at 7:00pm.

As you would expect, the contest began with both teams exchanging baskets before Bethel managed to build a modest 18-15 lead with 10:16 left in the period. A bucket from Wes Laidig pushed the lead to 25-19 before the Wildcats rallied to tie the score at 27-27 at the 4:51 mark. However, over the next few minutes, the Pilots went on a 13-5 run to assume control at 40-32. IWU trimmed the deficit to five before a basket from Caleb Laidig as time ran out gave the home team a 42-35 lead at the break.

The second stanza began with Bethel converting the first three points to go up 45-35. However, the Pilots went cold from the field over the next seven minutes and the Wildcats went on a 15-0 run to jump in front 50-45. Bethel answered with a 14-5 spurt to re-take the lead 59-55 with 9:07 remaining. The Bethel lead remained between one and four over the next seven minutes of action until a pair of free throws from Joey Welch pushed the margin to seven (75-68) with 0:50 left to play. Bethel then was able to seal the victory by connecting from the charity stripe and collect an extremely hard earned win.

Offensively, the Pilots were led by the trio of Ryne Lightfoot, Caleb Laidig, and Wes Laidig as all three tallied 17 points. Wes collected 6 rebounds while Caleb grabbed 10 boards to go with 6 assists, 3 steals, and 2 huge blocked shots. Joey Welch also turned in a double-double performance scoring 12 points and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes of action. As a team, the Pilots dominated the Wildcats on the boards 41-27 and the defensive intensity forced 16 IWU turnovers.

Afterwards, Bethel head coach Mike Lightfoot commented, �I thought we did a really good job rebounding tonight and we got some key minutes from Joey Welch. We played with a lot of heart and passion, and we got enough defensive stops to win, even though we didn�t shoot particularly well tonight.�

Next up for the Pilots is a trip to Goshen College on Saturday afternoon to take on the Maple Leafs beginning at 3:00 pm.

The game began with Bethel and Grace trading baskets until the Lancers were able to take a 22-16 lead midway through the period. However, the Pilots used a 20-9 run to jump in front 36-31 with 3:24 left until halftime. Each team managed to score nine more points before the break and Bethel took a 45-40 lead into the intermission.

After Grace converted the first two points of the second stanza, the Pilots scored the next ten to take a 55-42 lead. Bethel continued to control the action and held a double digit lead until the Lancers cut the margin to eight (63-55) at the 11:06 mark. Still, Bethel held the upper hand by at least six points until the Lancers got to within three (72-69) with 1:36 left in regulation. But that�s as close as the Lancers would get as Bethel hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Pacing the Pilot attack was Ryne Lightfoot who finished with a game-high 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Ryne moved into third place in career free throws made with 506, passing Rico Swanson�s mark of 501. Lightfoot now trails only Jody Martinez (603) and Eric Brand (659) in school history. Tony Benford had an outstanding game pouring in 19 points to go with 2 steals. Landon Booker turned in 24 quality minutes of action and tallied 12 points while Wes Laidig chipped in with 10 points and 7 boards. Joey Welch had an excellent outing with 9 points and 12 big rebounds. Caleb Laidig ended up with 8 points and 3 assists for the day.

�I was really proud of our kids today,� stated Bethel head coach, Mike Lightfoot afterwards.��Especially Joey Welch, who had a break-out game for us with his defense and rebounding. We got some great minutes from our bench again, especially from Landon Booker who really stepped up with his defensive intensity. And our three seniors played like warriors today. It was good to see Wes, Ryne, and Tony all turning in some great minutes. Wes was really our unsung hero as he battled every possession and did a lot of things that don�t show up in the stats. This was a great win for us after two tough losses and anytime we can get a win at Grace in a tough environment is great for our program.�

The Pilots, now 18-4 and 6-3 in the MCC, will return home on Tuesday night to battle No. 9 ranked and current MCC leader Indiana Wesleyan University. The huge match-up in the Wiekamp Athletic Center is set to tip-off at 7:00pm.��