FARMINGTON, Ark. – Bethany mounted a second-half comeback but fell to host Farmington, 55-49, in the Bronchos’ final game of the Cardinal Classic in northwest Arkansas.

The Cardinals sprinted out to a 28-14 lead by halftime, draining four 3-pointers.

Bethany (1-3) roared back in the third quarter to trail, 37-36.

The Bronchos took a 41-39 lead to 3:56 mark in the fourth quarter. Farmington answered with a 5-point run to take the lead. Senior Wyatt Geissler followed with a 3-pointer way beyond the arc from in front of the Bethany bench to tie the game at 44-44.

The Cardinals went on a 6-point run to make it 51-44. The Bronchos didn’t score again until senior Jackie Payne hit a layup with :15 left to make it 51-46.

Farmington hit free throws in the final seconds as Bethany was forced to foul.

Senior Aiden Todd hit a long 3-pointer as time expired.

“Finally looked like ourselves in the second half. Just can’t spot them a 14-point lead at half,” Bethany coach Brett Cannon said via text. “The intensity and focus we played with in the second half is good enough to win a ton of games.”

Geissler finished with 15 points, Payne and Todd each added 10 points in the loss.

“Aiden and Wyatt really set the tone with their ball pressure in the second half and made plays on the offensive side as well,” Cannon said. “They tried to deny Aiden in the second and he did a great job screening and getting looks for other guys. It may have been the best half of basketball I’ve seen from him from all aspects.”

Despite going 0-3 in their Arkansas jaunt, Cannon was pleased with the weekend.

“The guys realize what we need to fix and we are excited to get in the gym and tweak those things,” Cannon said. “Was a great weekend for us to get away, get better and deal with some adversity early. We played three really good teams and learned a ton from each game.”

Arkansas’ 35-second shot clock wasn’t much of a factor for the Bronchos.

“We play so fast that it doesn’t matter. It’s nice that teams can’t hold it and stall when they are up. Always gave us a chance to come back,” Cannon said.

UP NEXT

The sixth-ranked Bronchos return to Western Athletic Conference play, traveling to Chickasha Tuesday (Dec. 17). The Fighting Chicks (4-2) beat host Duncan, 41-28, Saturday (Dec. 14) in the consolation championship of the Southern Oklahoma Invitational. Chickasha also scored an overtime win over Tuttle in the tournament.

Tipoff is at 8 p.m.

	1	2	3	4	F
Bethany (1-3)	7	7	22	13	49
Farmington (9-2)	18	10	9	19	55