Down by only four at halftime, the Swedes then struggled to stop the Baker offense in the second half as four Wildcats scored in double digits. Bethany hung close down the stretch, but Baker ultimately handed the Swedes a 71-60 road loss.

"We really broke down offensively," said head coach Clair Oleen. "We took a step backwards in terms of our execution of the triangle offense. When we put the ball on the floor and the way we put the ball on the floor was not good. We were out of sync all night. We really shot ourselves in the foot."

Senior Rodd Williams had a game-high 22 points as junior Sol Byrd, Jr. added ten. Byrd, Jr. crashed the boards with ten rebounds while senior Brandon Miller contributed nine. Sophomore Clayton Goggins tallied five assists in the contest. Williams had two blocked shots and three steals while senior Kendall Banning and junior Vincent Ferguson both tacked on two steals.

"Our half-court defense played well enough to win," Oleen said, "but we didn't block on the boards. We gave up a huge number of offensive rebounds. That was a big difference in the game."

Bethany finished the week with their first home game of the season as they hosted Johnson and Wales University Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats of Johnson and Wales came out firing in the first half, taking a 43-37 lead over the Swedes at halftime. Bethany found their rhythm in the second half, outscoring Johnson and Wales. However, they could not overcome the deficit built in the first half and fell 80-78.

"We had better things happen offensively," said Oleen. "We scored enough to win. But we didn't close out the ball well at all. Again, we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds. That, and fouls - they were 16-of-22 from the line and we were 9-of-11 from the line - were the big differences in the game."

Byrd, Jr. headed the offense with 22 points, followed by senior Jason Schneider with 15. Banning tacked on 12 points while senior C.J. Littlejohn added ten. Miller and Williams each grabbed five rebounds. Littlejohn contributed three assists as Miller, Williams, and freshman Colton Grove all had two assists. Littlejohn sneaked three steals while Williams tallied two.

"We didn't dictate with defense the way we should," Oleen said. "We had some breakdowns in our backside rotation."

The Swedes are now 1-3 overall. They next face Emporia State University in an exhibition match-up on Wednesday, November 18 at 7 p.m. The Swedes then head west to compete in the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Classic. The squad faces Black Hills State University on Friday, November 20 at 6 p.m. before facing off with Colorado College on Saturday, November 21 at 4 p.m.

"We've had some close losses," said Oleen. "We've played some good teams, but we could have won every single game we played. We are a work in progress, and are still acclimating guys to the way we defend and the way we want to do things. When we put things together, I think we will have a good team. But we are still having those growing pains."