EUGENE, Ore. – Simpson University closed both halves on big runs, pulling away for a 79-70 victory over Bushnell on Friday night in NAIA action at the Morse Center.
Bushnell led for most of the first half and was ahead 26-24 with eight minutes remaining only to see Simpson launch an 18-4 run to end the half with a monster 42-30 advantage.
The Beacons were able to fight their way back quickly in the second half as they held the Red Hawks to one field goal over the first five minutes and used a 15-3 run to tie the game at 45-45.
The teams battled through a few ties with neither team pulling away and the Beacons were within one, 60-59 on a
Drew Groenig (pictured) three-pointer with 7:32 remaining. The visitors, however, went on a 10-0 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes taking advantage of four Bushnell turnovers during the stretch to put the game out of reach.
Head Coach
Eddie Alexander said, "Today was a rough example of what happens when operations in your program have a difficult week and I take full responsibility. We had issues with timeliness, laundry mishaps, a lack of focus in our team meeting and film work, a poor shoot around, our practices were not to the level of our expectation, and then our game day environment lacked any energy from our bench and from our stands. Some of these details we can't control, but I am extremely disappointed in not controlling our controllables this week."
Bushnell finished the night shooting 43% while Simpson hit 48% in what by all statistical accounts was a close contest. The Red Hawks earned a 38-36 advantage in rebounds with a 16-9 margin in second-chance points that proved to be a difference maker.
Bushnell (2-2) was led in the loss by
Kaleb Burnett, scoring 19 points while
Keenan Reckamp added 18.
Roman Gabriel came off the bench to post 12 points including ten in the second half as the Beacon reserves outscored their SU counterparts, 27-17.
Simpson (1-1) is now just 5-17 all-time against the Beacons but have won the last three games in the series. They were led to the victory on Friday by Kellen Torrey, posting a game-high 21 points as he went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line, nearly single-handedly scoring as many at the charity stripe as the Beacons. Ameere Britton added 15 points while Michael Wood came off the bench to score 10 points and eight rebounds.
"Excuses are never the answer," added Coach Alexander. "This week was just the perfect storm. I give credit to Simpson and the way they bounds back in terms of their fight and playing much harder than us today after they lost to Corban last night. They earned the win."
Up Next: Bushnell will need to regroup quickly as they head to Southern California for two NAIA road games this week. They will face No. 17 The Master's University (1-3) in Santa Clarita on Thursday at 7:00 pm before heading to San Dimas on Saturday to take on Life Pacific College (1-2) at 6:00 pm.
