Sterling came out strong in the first half, holding Bethany to just 34% shooting as the Swedes walked into the locker room at halftime down by ten. However, Bethany heated up in the second half as they found their shooting stride, shooting over 50% in the second half. The Swedes in turn held the Warriors to 33% shooting in the second half. Bethany outscored Sterling by 12 points, and the Swedes grabbed a tight 69-67 victory as senior Rodd Williams secured the "W" with two free throws down the stretch.

"This game was the same story as the Friends game," said head coach Clair Oleen. "We didn't defend with the level of defensive energy to begin that game. It was maybe not as low of energy as we started out at Friends, but we didn't execute as well and they shot the ball well. We didn't panic come halftime, but did a little ways into the second half as we got down by 18. But we finally got the energy going. We just have to have some possessions where things go well; it encourages the young men and they pick up energy more. It was quite an ending; we got some stops, had some chances at the end and came down with the ball and a tie game, and we were able to make a play. We got Rodd to the free throw line off penetration, and he knocked them down, and we were able to get one more stop."

Senior C.J. Littlejohn scored a game-high 20 points, followed by Williams with 18. Junior Vincent Ferguson added thirteen. Senior Brandon Miller grabbed seven rebounds as Littlejohn tacked on five and senior Jason Schneider snagged four. Schneider contributed four assists on the night while Williams and Littlejohn had three and freshman Xavier Reynolds tallied two. Ferguson headed the defense with two blocked shots as Williams and Reynolds had three steals and two steals, respectively.

"The key was we stepped up our defense and energy and realized we could make this happen," Oleen said. "We had an excited crowd, stands, and student section. We certainly draw energy from them in our own house. In the end, we were lucky to get out with the ‘W.'"

Bethany finished the week with a home match-up against Bethel College Saturday evening on Family/Pen Pal Night.

The Swedes stayed close with the Threshers in the first half, fighting to try and grab and hold a lead, but Bethany went into halftime down by four. However, the Swedes hit their stride with a 40-point second half, holding Bethel to a mere 23 points, and Bethany went on to a 72-59 victory.

"We opened up with a lot more defensive energy," said Oleen. "We played harder, but looking at the score you wouldn't know. They hit a 35-footer off the glass with the shot clock buzzing. They shot extremely well; it wasn't like they were highly unguarded shots. We pressured, but they made their shots. They shot 48% at halftime, and we shot 29%, so still only down by four, that had to be somewhat encouraging that we could get it done. A lot of our offensive woes were primarily with our own lack of patience. We shot a lot of quick three's instead of inside out basketball. In the second half, offensively we got a lot more inside out basketball. We got more baskets and more scores to the rim, and had less three-point shots, so that helped."

Littlejohn scored a team-high 18 points as Williams added 17 and freshman Clayton Goggins tacked on 16. Miller snagged a game-high 15 rebounds and two blocked shots. Miller and Williams totaled three assists each on the night.

"Two major factors were our defense continued hard with their pressure the whole 40 minutes," Oleen said. "They wilted in the second half; basically the shooting percentages flip flopped second half. And we totally dominated the boards. We had 20 offensive rebounds to their four or eight, so we had a lot more shot attempts. Those were probably the key factors in that game."

The Swedes are now 7-5 in the KCAC, in third place, and 11-11 overall. The squad hits the road as they travel to McPherson College on Thursday, February 4 and Ottawa University on Saturday, February 6. Tip offs are set for 8 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.