2007 Championship

2007 NCCAA National Championship

Oakland City, IN

Bethel 90, Grace College 81

The theme all season has been a “Band of Brothers” for the 2006-07 Bethel College Pilots. And on Saturday night, they truly played as such, and with the collective heart of a champion, the Pilots brought home their seventh National Championship (3 NAIA titles and 4 NCCAA titles) by downing Grace College in a classic battle, 90-81 in overtime.

The championship contest, which featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes, began with the Lancers building an 18-14 early lead. The Pilots then went on a 16-7 run to grab a 30-25 advantage late in the first period. However, a three-point bucket from Grace’s Tyler Leighton knotted the score at 33-33 at the intermission.

The second half began with both squads trading baskets in the early going before the Pilots struck with an impressive 16-6 run, capped by a Jon Zeser three-point basket, taking a 60-50 lead. However, Grace answered with a 15-2 spurt to re-take the lead (65-62) with just under 8:00 remaining. But the Pilots kept their poise and used a 9-6 run to tie the contest at 71-71 with under a minute left to play. A Lancer miss, and a Pilot rebound led to a William Walker basket, giving the Pilots a 73-71 lead. With time winding down, Grace chose to go for the win, and Marcus Moore’s three-point attempt was off the mark, but a foul was whistled on the Pilot defender with 3.4 seconds remaining. With an opportunity to put Grace on top, Moore missed his first of three free throws, but converted on his final two to knot the score at 73-73. A desperation shot by Bethel missed its mark and the championship game headed to overtime.

In the extra period, Bethel took control early by scoring the first 2 baskets for a 77-73 lead. The Lancers responded and trimmed the margin to 79-77 with under 2:00 remaining. That’s when Bethel’s Tyler Brown sank the crucial three-point bucket from the deep right corner to give the Pilots an 82-77 lead. Grace was forced to foul the rest of the way, and the Pilots went 6 for 6 from the line to preserve the margin. With 0:08 left in the contest, a final three-point effort from the Lancers failed, leading to a break-away dunk by Mark Lettinga at the buzzer putting an exclamation point on the Pilot championship victory.

Team statistics were highlighted by Bethel’s 45-35 rebounding edge over Grace, and Bethel’s excellent assist to turnover ratio (18 assists and only 11 turnovers). Individually, the numbers were simply amazing. Mark Lettinga led the way with 25 points and 12 rebounds in 41 minutes of action. Tyler Brown was next with 23 points (17 in the second half), and 9 rebounds, playing all 45 minutes. William Walker turned in another huge effort, tallying 22 points while grabbing 11 boards to go with 5 assists in 43 minutes of court time. Pilot guard, Jon Zeser, contributed 12 points and 4 assists, and didn’t turn the ball over playing all 45 minutes of the championship contest. Kory Lantz chipped in with 3 points and played a very good floor game, dishing out 4 assists. Ryne Lightfoot, playing on a severely sprained ankle, managed to log 23 minutes of action, scored 5 points, and went 4 for 4 from the charity line in the overtime session.

Named to the NCCAA All-Tournament Team were Tyler Brown and Mark Lettinga. And named the NCCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player was William Walker, who scored 67 points, grabbed 37 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists while playing a total of 110 of a possible 125 minutes in his three games.

The Bethel College Pilots end their remarkable season with a 21-15 record, winning their last 5 games in a row, all on the road, and all in pressure-packed situations. Congratulations to the 2006-07 Bethel College Pilots, NCCAA National Champions, and the Band of Brothers.

BOX SCORE

Mark Lettinga 10-21 2-4 25; Tyler Brown 10-13 2-3 23; William Walker 9-21 4-5 22; Jon Zeser 3-9 4-5 12; Ryne Lightfoot 0-2 5-6 5; Kory Lantz 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 33-68 17-23 90.

Marcus Moore 8-17 5-6 23; Eric Gaff 6-15 2-5 14; Scott Moore 5-9 0-0 13; Kyle Johnson 5-11 2-2 13; David Ritter 2-3 0-0 6; Tyler Leighton 2-6 0-0 5; David Swanson 2-4 0-0 4; Michael Wienhorst 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 31-68 9-13 81.

Bethel College Pilots…..........33 40 17 – 90

Grace College Lancers…...... 33 40 8 – 81

3-POINT FIELD GOALS:

BETHEL: 7-19 (Mark Lettinga 3-7; Jon Zeser 2-8; Kory Lantz 1-1; Tyler Brown 1-2; Ryne Lightfoot 0-1)
GRACE: 10-24 (Scott Moore 3-5; Marcus Moore 2-8; David Ritter 2-2; Kyle Johnson 1-2; Tyler Leighton 1-4; Michael Wienhorst 1-3).

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