MISHAWAKA – Senior Matt Schauss poured in a career-high 40 points to go along with 14 rebounds and three assists as the No. 8 ranked Bethel Pilots defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene 104-78 Saturday afternoon.

Crossroads League leading scorer Clay Yeo would quickly find himself in foul trouble playing just under nine minutes in the opening half. With the 6-5 sophomore on the bench the Pilots turned to Matt Schauss who scored 20 points in the first half while pulling down six rebounds.

Despite Schauss’ efforts Mount Vernon Nazarene came out shooting 47 percent from the field and knocking down six three-pointers to claim a 42-39 lead at intermission.

Bethel would struggle from beyond the arc connecting on 3-of-10 (30 percent) from long range in the first 20 minutes of play.

In the final half the Pilots clamped down defensively holding the Cougars to just 38 percent shooting (11-of-29) and 38 percent from beyond the arc.

On the opposite end Bethel received massive offensive production from not only Schauss, but Ryan Wassink and Zach Miller as BC outscored their opponent 65-36. Miller would catch fire scoring 17 second-half points featuring five three-pointers. Ryan Wassink would add 11 points in the final half ending with 15 points and five rebounds.

Early in the second with Bethel holding a 55-50 lead Zach Miller sank a trey that sparked a 17-3 run to claim a 72-57 advantage with 11:38 left to play.

Wassink would get in the action with Schauss and Miller scoring the next eight-straight points for BC to keep the lead at 17 with just over eight minutes left.

MVNU (13-7, 4-4) would manage to close the gap to 12 (84-72), but Bethel rattled off 11-straight points including back-to-back triples from Miller and Schauss to go up 23 (95-72) with 3:14 remaining.

From there the Pilots’ 63 percent for the half was enough to close out the contest and extend their lead for the 104-78 final.

Bethel (17-3, 5-3) also connected on 8-of-13 from beyond the arc (62 percent) and 86 percent (19-of-22) from the charity stripe.

Matt Schauss’ 40-point game lands him in great company as Eric Brand (1/25/00), Jody Martinez (2/9/89) and Dave Riffell (11/25/74) all notched 40-point games during their Bethel careers. The most points ever scored by a Pilot is Dave Troyer who scored 48 points (11/16/91).

The Pilots hit the road traveling to Taylor University (11-9, 2-6) where they look to snap a six-year losing streak in Upland, Ind. Tip-off is set for Tuesday, January 20 at 7:00pm.