Manhattan Christian came out strong as Bethany tried desperately to hang close, and went into the locker room with a 34-23 lead over the Swedes. However, Bethany heated up late in the second half and outscored Manhattan Christian by seven points. In the end, MCC held tight and hung on for the 75-71 win.

"Against Manhattan Christian, it is an understatement to say we were extremely disappointed just in the way we played the game of basketball," said head coach Clair Oleen. "Offensively, defensively, and rebounding wise. I don't know if it was that first real game jitters, but I wasn't happy with the intensity and focus."

Senior Rodd Williams scored a team high 20 points, followed with 19 by senior Brandon Miller. Senior C.J. Littlejohn contributed ten points as junior Kendall Banning added nine. Miller tied the game-high 12 rebounds as he, Banning, and Williams all had one assist. Sophomore Clayton Goggins totaled four steals as Williams and Banning both tacked on three.

"Finally, the last eight minutes, we really got the defensively energy cranked up and came back," Oleen said. "We had chances to win down the stretch. Win or lose that ball game, we were extremely disappointed with ourselves and the way we played for about the first 32 minutes. But, we hope to learn something."

The Swedes rounded out the week with a trip to Haskell Indian Nations University Saturday night. "We played a team that was a better team than what we played Thursday night," said Oleen. "They are a team that's very athletic and are very high possession and up tempo. We like to play that way as well."

Tied at the half, Bethany upheld the speed and tempo of the game. Thanks to a better offensive and intense performance, the Swedes grabbed a 97-84 win against Haskell Indian Nations, their first victory of 2009.

"We don't enjoy giving up 84 points," Oleen said. "We have lots of things to get better at defensively. But we can give up points and play well defensively and still be successful because we are a high possession team and can play that type of games. Not to take anything away from MCC, but if we played that way and had that focus and execution on Thursday, the results would have been significantly different than what they were."

Bethany is now 1-1 overall. The squad next faces Baker University on Thursday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. before hosting their first game of the year against Johnson and Whales University on Saturday, November 14 at 3 p.m.

"Sometimes, you have to have that correction factor," said Oleen. "Our freshmen really helped as they played well against the older guys in practice Friday. In fact, the freshmen beat them. They really alerted the older guys. It was good to see some of these guys really start to acclimate to Bethany basketball and the way we play."