LAKEWOOD, Colo. (BethanySwedes.com) – The Bethany College Men’s Basketball team played their final game of the 2024 calendar year on the road in Lakewood, Colo. against the Colorado Christian University Cougars. This was the second and final game of the Swedes’ two-game road trip.
Compared to the last game against UCCS, this start would be the complete opposite as the Swedes would find themselves down 0-7 to begin the contest. Kendall Collins would put Bethany on the board with a three-pointer followed by an Emmanuel Akpan dunk to cut the Cougar lead down to two. Both of those scores would be part of a 11-2 run that was capped off with an “And-1” layup by Kenny Haynes to put the Swedes up 11-9. Colorado Christian would score the next four points, but Noah Simiskey and Ellis Todd would both enter the game and spark Bethany’s offense scoring 20 of the Swedes’ next 22 points in the first half. The Swedes would trail 42-36 going into the break.
The second half opened with the Cougars scoring the first four points until Kendall Collins, once again, scored the Swedes’ first points of the half. Kenny Haynes would follow up with two bombs from beyond the arc to cut the Cougar lead to two. Colorado Christian would try to rebuild their lead, but Bethany would turn into something unreal from deep piling on three-pointer after three-pointer to grab a 71-62 forcing the Cougars to use multiple timeouts. Bethany would hold on to take this one 79-76.
Kendall Collins would drop 21 points including 4-4 from three point range. Kenny Haynes would pour in 18 points while Noah Simiskey and Ellis Todd would add 14 and 13, respectively. Collins, Haynes, Todd and Emmanuel Akpan would each record three assists.
Akpan would block two shots while Collins would nab four steals.
As a team, Bethany would shoot lights out from beyond the arc going 15-24 (62.5%). The Swedes would capitalize on turnovers scoring 21 points following the Cougars’ mistakes. The Bethany bench would combine for 54 points showing the depth of this team.
This is the first victory over a NCAA Division II opponent since December 31, 2019 when the Swedes defeated the Pittsburg State University Gorillas 93-89.
Up Next…
The Swedes will relish this moment over the next few days as they get a chance to head home for the break. They return to action on Saturday, January 4, when they travel down to Bartlesville, Okla. to take on the No. 24 Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles. Tipoff is schedule for 3:00 PM following the completion of the women’s contest.
