MISHAWAKA – Clay Yeo admits that he uses the “stuff” out there in the social media world as motivation.

Not that the Bethel College basketball star needs any extra fuel to drive his engine on the hardwood.

Yeo, a former standout at Triton High School, is having another stellar season for the Pilots. The 6-5 junior guard has the No. 5 Pilots sitting at 10-1 overall after a 98-76 thumping of Grace College on Saturday in the Wiekamp Center on the Bethel campus.

Yeo shared his thoughts on the season so far after helping Bethel handle the Lancers in a rivalry game in the Crossroads League. The Pilots bounced back in fine fashion after an 84-79 conference loss at Taylor University Tuesday night.

“I think the signs for this team are really good,” said Yeo as he stretched his lanky 6-5 frame out in a comfortable chair outside the Bethel locker room late Saturday afternoon. “We’ve had few hiccups, but all teams have those in a season. The big thing for us is to take it possession by possession and just slow the game down.”

Yeo’s teammates did outstanding work in the first half with their go to guy on the bench. Yeo scored six quick points as Bethel opened the game up 11-0 before he got two fouls and had to sit out the final 14:56 of the opening half. Despite his absence, the Pilots led 51-32 at halftime behind the outstanding play of junior guard Caleb Oetjen (17 points) and freshman forward Luke Fisher (11 points).

“Our guys really stepped up today,” said Yeo. “We came out with a sense of urgency. Caleb had one of the best games of his career and Luke (Fisher) really stepped up for us.

“We had a mishap at Taylor the other night, but it’s all about how you respond to those things. We came out and accepted the challenge today.”

Yeo, who led Triton to an 85-19 mark during his prolific prep career, came out in the final half Saturday and showed why he is a nightmare for any defense. The silky-smooth scorer tallied 13 points in th final half to finish with 19 in the easy win. Yeo shot  7-9 from the field, including 2-4 on 3-pointers, and made all three of his free throw chances. He also added three rebounds, four assists, a steal and two blocked shots in just 22 minutes of playing time.

“A killer mentality,” said Yeo of his mindset on the offensive end. “I take it personally to get us going. I just try to stay in the flow of the game and my teammates do a great job of finding me. I think that the first five minutes of each half are huge and that’s when I try to get us going.”

“I know that coach (Mike Lightfoot) has all the belief in me and that makes all the difference. I have the green light out there.”

Yeo was a second-team All-American last year after averaging 21 points and six rebounds per game as Bethel went 27-7 and played in the NAIA National Tournament. He entered play on Saturday averaging a team-high 21.6 points-per-game. He was shooting 46 percent overall from the field, including 33 percent on 3-pointers, and 75 percent at the line. Yeo was also averaging four rebounds per game, while ranking first on his team in steals and second in blocked shots.

Yeo, who played his freshman season at NCAA Division I program Valparaiso University before transferring to Bethel, listens to the outside noise about him and the highly-successful program that he plays for.

“I look at the stuff that people are tweeting about us being overrated and it just motivates me,” concluded Yeo. “I just want to go out there and prove them wrong.”

It’s safe to say that he is succeeding at that for sure.