Men's Basketball falls to #16 Bethel on Day 1 of the Chick-fil-A Classic

(Rochester Hills, MI) - The Rochester Christian men's basketball team opened up the Chick-fil-A Classic on Friday evening, facing off against the #16 Bethel (IN) Pilots. A tightly contested half saw the Warriors up by six at the break, before Bethel would shoot 53% from three in the second half to pull out the 88-77 win. 

RCU falls to 2-1 overall, while Bethel improves to 2-0. 

FIRST HALF

Tyler Allen scored the first four points for RCU on the day before James Fisher and Dustin Farrow got in on the scoring. The Warriors continued to work inside with Fisher and Tymias Williams to take a 13-8 lead four minutes in. Jamil Mashhour broke a two-minute scoring drought with a jump shot, with Bethel responding right away and both defenses locking in again for a combined 1:30 drought. Williams made a layup with the game heading to the under-10 media. 

James Fisher opened the play back up with a bucket. Tyler Allen and Bakir Djedovic made four straight free throws for the Warriors for a slight 25-24 lead. The Warriors continued to put up points, going on an 11-3 run to end the half with a six-point advantage. 

SECOND HALF

James Fisher scored the opening pair of buckets of the second half for RCU. The Pilots would respond with a 10-2 run to the under-15 media. Darnell Turner Jr. had an old-fashioned three-point play coming out of the timeout to regain the RCU lead. Over the next five minutes, Bethel's shots started falling, as they went on a 21-3 run to push the lead out to 65-50.

Linden Holder and Darnell Turner Jr. made a couple of buckets to bring the Warriors closer, but Bethel continued to respond. The Warriors attempted a comeback, working the lead back down to single-digits with a 12 out of 13 run. The Pilots' defense was able to hold the offense though in the final minute to earn the win. 

TOP PERFORMERS

Five different Warriors scored in double-figures, led by Tymias Williams with 16, while James Fisher (13), Linden Holder (12), Tyler Allen (12), and Darnell Turner Jr. (12) all added scoring. Williams and Holder led the team with two assists each, while Williams also led the team with three offensive rebounds. 

Tymias Williams was the top rebounder overall, tallying nine with Jamil Mashhour and Tyler Allen each bringing down five. James Fisher and Ashton Goul each tallied two steals while Williams had two blocks. 

UP NEXT

The Warriors are right back in play tomorrow afternoon, as they go up against the Cougars from Saint Francis (IN) for the second day of the Chick-fil-A Classic, with a 1 PM tipoff.