With their first win of 2010 under their belt, the Bethany College men's basketball team hosted Haskell Indian Nations University on Monday, January 4 for Smoky Valley Community Night.  

With a win against Haskell earlier in the season, Bethany stepped on the court in hopes of staying undefeated against HINU this season. The Swedes controlled much of the first half and went into halftime with a 14-point lead. Bethany, who shot 43.8% from the field and 54.2% from beyond the arc, kept their hot hand in the second half and came out with a dominating 92-75 win.

"We just completed four games in eight days," said head coach Clair Oleen. "We got Haskell down pretty decent, and I think we played everybody, 16 guys, though some played just a little bit at the end."

Senior Rodd Williams scored a game-high 33 points. Senior C.J. Littlejohn tacked on 17 points,followed by sophomore Clayton Goggins with 13. Williams grabbed six rebounds on the night while junior Manuel Honeycutt had five and senior Jason Schneider snagged four. Goggins and Littlejohn each tallied four assists as Williams, senior Kendall Banning, and junior Vincent Ferguson had three assists each. Littlejohn and Williams headed the Bethany defense with five steals apiece.

"A few guys shot extremely well," Oleen said. "We didn't defend as well as we would have liked, but we got the ‘W'."

The Swedes then returned to KCAC play with a home match-up against Ottawa University Thursday night. Bethany started out hot in the first half, capitalizing on Ottawa turnovers and putting up impressive points off the bench, and went into halftime with a 40-19 lead. Despite being outscored by two points in the second half, the Swedes hung on and handed the Braves a 66-47 loss.

"We defended very, very well," said Oleen. "Being a perfectionist, there were a few possessions I was disappointed with, where gave up a few easy shots. But in the first half, and generally most of the game, we gave a tremendous defensive effort. We put them out of their offense in the second half; they tried two other offenses."

Littlejohn put up a game-high 20 points, followed by Schneider with 15. Senior Brandon Miller snagged 11 rebounds on the night. Ferguson grabbed eight rebounds while Littlejohn and Goggins contributed seven and six, respectively. Williams totaled six assists on the night while Littlejohn snuck four steals to head the Bethany defense.

"We also rebounded very well, in particular in the first half," Oleen said. "We defended well and rebounded well. Those are two very important things because we did not shoot the ball well, but won by quite a margin. But when we rebound, we can get away with not shooting as well, though we would prefer to shoot well, too."

Bethany closed out the week with a trip to Tabor College Saturday night. The Swedes fought to grab and hold a lead in the first half, and walked into the locker room at halftime with a four-point lead. Capitalizing off turnovers and shooting 42.2% from the field, Bethany rolled to a 72-66 win over the Blue Jays, their fourth consecutive victory.

"This was another night of not shooting the ball well at times," said Oleen, "but we defended well. I wouldn't put it in the same category as how we defended Thursday against Ottawa, but we defended well enough to win the game despite not shooting well."

Schneider scored a game-high 22 points, followed by Williams and Ferguson with 13 points each. Honeycutt tacked on 12 points on the night. Ferguson grabbed nine rebounds as Schneider snagged eight. Goggins tallied three assists while Littlejohn, Williams, and Ferguson totaled two apiece. Miller snuck three steals and Littlejohn, Ferguson, and Williams each contributed two steals. Senior Kendall Banning assisted the Bethany defense with one blocked shot on the night.

"We rebounded well, and won another board battle," Oleen said. "It was a big win on the road. We are 2-1 on the road in the KCAC, which is unusual."

The Swedes 3-3 in the KCAC, tied for third place, and 7-9 overall. The squad travels to Salina to take on rival Kansas Wesleyan University on Thursday, January 14 at 8 p.m. before returning home to host Southwestern College on Saturday, January 16 at 7 p.m.

"We won four games in eight days, going 4-0," said Oleen, "but we just take it one day at a time, and one practice at a time, and keep getting better."