POINT LOOKOUT, MO. – The Bethel College men’s basketball team’s dream of a national title ended Saturday night with a tough 77-75 overtime loss to Bellevue University (Nebraska) in the NAIA Division II quarterfinals.

The Pilots started the game off strong going on a quick 9-3 run in the first two minutes of the game, but the Bruins responded with two quick triples from deep to knot things up at 12 a piece. The Pilots once again tried to break away, gaining a nine point lead with 10:49 left to play in the game, however the Bruins responded again by cutting the lead to one with 6:27 left to play in the half. The Pilots made one more slight run and headed into the locker room with a six point advantage (38-32).

During the first half the Pilots shot 57 percent from the field, connecting on 15-of-26 attempts while going 6-of-10 from behind the arc. The Bruins headed into halftime shooting 44 percent from the field going 13-29, including 6 of-15 from behind the three-point line.

The Pilots came out of halftime with a purpose, extending their lead to 15 in the first minute and a half in the second half (47-32), but once again the tenacity of the Bruins and sharp shooting kept them in the game. With 8:16 left to play in the game the Bruins retook the lead. From then on both teams traded buckets, with each team unwilling to give up ground. With 31 seconds left to go in regulation the Pilots found themselves down by two, but good floater by senior Clay Yeo tied things up, and the Pilots and Bruins headed into overtime.

The Pilots were the first to score in overtime, but the Bruins responded with a bucket of their own. With 2:09 left to play in the game the Pilots were down by three. Yeo cut the Bruins lead to one with a good two-point bucket inside. With 33 seconds left to play in the game, the Pilots found themselves again down by one. The Pilots looked to Yeo, who got fouled on a shot attempt and headed to the line for two shots. Yeo connected on 1-of-2 to knot things at 75.

The Bruins, with seven seconds left,  got the ball inside where forward Jalen Hall connected on a two-point bucket in the paint to take a 77-75 lead. The Pilots quickly called time-out and with 4.4 seconds left.  Yeo passed the ball inbounds and got it right back for a three-point opportunity, but it fell short as the Bruins squeaked away with the comeback victory.

The Pilots struggled from the field in the second half, shooting just 36 percent from the field going 13-of-36, and just 27 percent from behind the arc, connecting on just 2-of-7 attempts.

Yeo, the former star at Triton High School, finished the night with 20 points for the Pilots, going 8-of-22 from the field. The gutty Yeo, who played for Bethel the past three seasons after starting his career at Valparaiso University, returned from a knee injury in January.

Senior Jordyn Coon, a Warsaw product, finished his night with 18 points and five rebounds.

Junior Gage Ott finished the night with a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Nick Kindig, a former standout at Tippecanoe Valley High School, finished the night with 10 points.

The No. 3 ranked and top-seeded Pilots were hoping to send coach Mike Lightfoot out with a national title. Lightfoot announced in January that this season, his 30th at Bethel, would be his last.

Bethel closes out the season at 31-5 and the senior class of Yeo, Coon, Kindig, Ryan Wassink and Caleb Oetjen leave with a career mark of 110-30. The Pilots won both the regular-season title and tournament championship in the Crossroads League this year.

Lightfoot finishes with a record of 794-285 at Bethel with a total of seven national championships, three in the NAIA and four in the NCCAA. His son Ryne, a current assistant coach, will take over the program next season.

Nick Hilton led all scorers with 26 points for Bellevue, which improves to 25-10. Hilton hit 8-11 shots from distance in the comeback win.