BILLINGS, Mont. – Senior Ayden Krupke scored 26 points and Bushnell hung with the No. 21-ranked team in the NAIA on Monday night before falling to Rocky Mountain College, 75-67.
 
The Beacons (0-2) were tied with the Battlin' Bears nine times and traded leads three times, before RMC (1-0) eventually pulled away late for the victory.
 
"I think we learned a lot about ourselves this week," said Head Coach Chad Meadors. "Being in Montana for six days and playing against three really good teams, the belief in each other is still through the roof right now and we are all looking forward to getting back to Oregon, back to campus, and back to work. I am looking forward to seeing the growth of this team over the course of the year. We are going to find the right way to play and this team has the grit and the effort to reach our potential.
 
The Beacons were led once again by senior Ayden Krupke, scoring 26 points including a career-high four three-pointers. "I am super proud of the team," said Krupke. "Our grit is amazing and I see it every day. The improvement we had from the two games was great. We have a lot of potential and I'm not discouraged at all after tonight. We were fighting the whole night and we just need to hold on longer. We need to slow down out mental game a little, and find those high IQ plays."
 
Kyra Quinn added nine points off the bench, Karlee VonMoos scored eight and Kenzie Pedersen led the team with seven rebounds.
 
Rocky Mountain was led by Paige Wasson, scoring 23 points while Isabelle Heggem chipped in a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
 
UP NEXT: Bushnell comes back to Eugene this weekend, playing their home opener against Hope International University (1-0) on November 8 at 10:00 am. Krupke said, "We are used to getting up for our 5:00 am practices and our energy is always great, so I have no doubt we will show up. We would love for our Beacon fans to come out and show up for us too!"