GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Thiel College men's basketball team secured a hard-fought 84-80 win over the Bethany Bison in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Gymnasium.
 
Thiel was down 12 with 4:27 remaining in the first half but cut the deficit to 46-40 at the break. After a back-and-forth second half, Thiel took the lead for good, 82-79, when Luke Kochka (Monroeville, Pa. /Gateway) drained a three in the corner on a Khari Bess (Waldorf, Md./Maurice J. McDonough) assist.
 
Leandra Jackson (Boardman, Ohio) then fouled Bethany's Antonio Randolph with four seconds remaining in the game. Randolph made his first free throw to cut the lead to three before missing his second free throw. Clandell Cetoute (Wellington, Fla./Wellington) grabbed the rebound, got fouled and then sunk his two free throws to seal the victory.
 
Kochka paced the Tomcat offense with a game-high 24 points. He made 9-of-14 shots overall and connected on 4-of-6 attempts from behind the three-point line. Kochka also pulled down six rebounds.
 
Jackson scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Twelve of Jackson's 20 points came in the first half. Jackson also stole the ball three times.
 
Cetoute recorded his fourth double-double of the season and second in as many games. Cetoute notched 18 points with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Bess scored eight points with 10 assists and three steals.
 
The Tomcats shot 46.4 percent from the field, scored 46 points in the paint and 25 points off of turnovers.
 
The Tomcats will be back in action Wednesday when they host the Chatham Cougars in PAC action. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.