3 games, 2 days, 1 program. The Bethesda men's basketball team does things very differently

Bethesda lost at Hawaii on Friday by 72 points. It lost at Pepperdine on Saturday by 73 points. And it lost at Southern Utah, also on Saturday, by 94 points.

That's right: One program, two days, three blowout losses by a combined 239 points.

Meet the Lion Angels of Bethesda University, a tiny, private Christian school located in Anaheim, California. The school's enrollment is about 260 students, with no dormitories. Home basketball games — which are rare — are played at a Salvation Army gym. And the men's roster of about two dozen players was split into three squads this weekend, each going to a different location for games.

“It’s very different,” athletic director Leo Balayon said with a laugh.

Compared with most schools, absolutely. But Bethesda, part of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association, does a lot of things that wouldn't be considered conventional. It has held practices on an outdoor court that pays tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant. It has worn what would be best described as hand-me-down practice uniforms from the Los Angeles Lakers' affiliate in the G League. Forget planes or charter buses: They drive to most games in vans.

“To be part of this, it’s a blessing, if I’m being very honest,” forward Treveon Lee said.

Playing three games in two days — five games in four days, really, when adding in that the squad sent to Hawaii for the Rainbow Classic also will face Portland on Sunday and UT Arlington on Monday before returning home — brings a big financial boost to the program.

The Hawaii game saw Bethesda get outscored 28-3 over the final six minutes of the first half, turning a game that had been somewhat close into one with a 40-point margin at intermission on the way to a 116-44 loss. Pepperdine had a pair of 15-0 runs in what became a 116-43 victory. And Southern Utah used 15 players, none logging more than 15 minutes, and won 143-49.

“It might be unusual to some people,” Lee said. “I think the coolest thing about it is probably many other people from the outside looking in would say, ‘Oh, man, I don’t know,' stuff like that. But for me, the advantage of being at a small school, the attention to detail ... you don't fade into the wind here.”

When Division I schools call, Bethesda answers. It just so happened that Hawaii, Southern Utah and Pepperdine all called about playing this weekend. Bethesda applied for and got approval from the NCCAA, its governing body, and the most unusual schedule became reality.

“We could survive without these games,” said Balayon, the program's former coach who is a professor at the school now while serving as athletic director. “But it would be really boring.”

The program, much like Balayon, comes from modest beginnings.

Balayon came to the U.S. from the basketball-crazed Philippines as a graduate student, then decided he wanted to be a basketball coach. One of his basketball heroes is Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose mother is from the Philippines. He knows people who know Spoelstra, but they've never met.

“I’ve always wanted to shake his hand because he’s the reason why I had the confidence to try and be a coach here in the U.S.," Balayon said. "If not for him, I don’t think I would have even tried. I was working camps for the Summer Pro League and all sorts of semi-pro things and they would ask me, ‘Hey, go ahead and coach that team’ and I would refuse because I didn’t feel worthy.

“Then Erik Spoelstra started coaching in Miami and I was so impressed by what he was doing. And I was like, ‘He’s half-Filipino, so maybe I can do this too.'”

Once he took the plunge and began coaching, Balayon's dream was to beat a Division I team. It didn't seem likely; Bethesda played 10 of them between 2013 and 2016, losing by an average of 30 points. But on Dec. 16, 2016, it finally happened — Bethesda knocked off Cal State Northridge 100-95. then won a rematch 82-80 five years later.

“It just became like a habit for us to pack our schedule with Division I schools," Balayon said. "It's our way to fundraise too. They pay us to show up and be their homecoming game.”

Other than those two wins against Cal State Northridge, Bethesda is 0-77 against other Division I teams the last 13 seasons, with 34 of those losses coming by 50 points or more. Somehow, there's no complaining.

“Being able to play like top competition like that, it’s amazing," Lee said. “And even going through all the different tribulations of having to face those teams, you can only be in the moment. And I think that’s what everyone here truly loves about it. No one is down on themselves. Everyone is so supportive and that’s the main thing, the best thing.”

They don't land blue-chip recruits. They look for guys who need second chances or never had a first chance. They've had players who served in the military before returning to school, some who didn't get playing time at other places, some who decided they were best served being driven by faith than by seeking fame. The opportunity to play a few games against big-name opponents is a huge part of the sales pitch.

“I’m a very Christ-driven man, so I believe Jesus has instilled the faith in me," Lee said. "That's how I go about it.”

The Lion Angels will do the split-squad approach a couple more times this season, continuing to give players opportunities they probably never expected to have against Division I squads. When schools call, Balayon offers home-court advantage to them — it's a lot of work for a bare-bones staff without much of a budget to host games, so he has no problem going on the road to play.

“We've had a very colorful group in terms of the people that come through here — we've had actors, people who came from the Navy, all kinds of backgrounds," Balayon said. "A very colorful experience to say the least. For me, that is what I think the best thing about our school. We give people a second chance.”

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