MISHAWAKA, Ind. — Austin Branagan paced the Goshen College men's basketball team with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting at the foul line Saturday as the Maple Leafs dropped their season finale 89-72 to NAIA Division II no. 25 Bethel University at the Wiekamp Athletic Center.

Ben Cotton finished his career with 15 points on 3 3-pointers while Tahj Curry added 14 points and 7 rebounds. Trevor Franklin tied a season high with 10 points and Michael Bowers posted a team-high 4 assists.

Branagan and Cotton each shot 50 percent to pace the Maple Leafs (4-26, 0-18) from the floor, going 7-of-14 and 5-of-10 respectively. Curry and Franklin each canned a pair of triples for Goshen, which finished 7-of-28 from long distance and 26-of-64 (41 percent) from the floor overall.

Bethel (20-10, 8-10) got 24 points from Tre'Vion Crews and 14 apiece from Nick Pluta and Nathan Aerts. Crews and Grant Gelon each hit on 3 triples and Jared DeHart was 2-of-6 from long range, where the Pilots went 11-of-31 (36 percent).

Aerts led all shooters with a 6-of-7 mark from the floor, beating out Crews (6-of-8) and Pluta (5-of-8). The Pilots connected at a 48 percent clip (29-of-61) and hit 20 of 26 free throws (77 percent).

BU racked up a 48-29 edge on the glass, getting 7 rebounds from Crews and the same number from Filip Segota. Crews had a game-high 4 assists.

Goshen took an early 6-0 lead after triples by Curry and Cotton and held that lead for more than 7 minutes, but the Pilots scored 14 of 15 points to go up 16-9 by the 11-minute mark. Branagan scored 4 points in a row to tie the game with 76 seconds left in the half before a Gelon 3-pointer put BU up 36-33 at recess.

Bethel scored 10 of the first 12 points after halftime and stretched the lead back to double figures on a Crews 3-pointer with 9:52 left. Goshen promptly countered with a 9-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 3.

Branagan and Cotton each scored to make it 75-70 BU with 5 minutes remaining, but the Leafs missed their next 5 shots and an 11-0 run by the hosts put the game out of reach.

The victory assured Bethel of at least a tie for the inaugural U.S. Highway 20 Cup as the Pilots extended their lead to 7½-3½ with the four spring sports remaining. BU also sealed the seventh seed in the Crossroads League tournament beginning next week.  

The loss concludes the 2019-2020 season for the Maple Leafs, who finished 10th in the Crossroads League standings and did not qualify for the postseason tournament. Conference honors are slated to be voted on in the coming days and will be announced in due course.