Cats Lose Heart Stopper to Patriots
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – It was another one of those close heart stopping games at Crisp Arena Thursday night. After taking a 31-16 lead with 6:09 left in the first half, the Bethel Wildcats would see the University of the Cumberlands go on a 10-0 spree to cut the Cat margin to 31-26 at the half. UC would outscore Bethel 47-40 in the second half to edge the Wildcats 73-71.
The Cats fell to 12-16 overall and 4-16 in the MSC. The Patriots improved to 19-10 and 13-8.
Bethel is 5-9 at home this season. The Cats are 114-42 all-time in Crisp Arena.
Cumberlands beat the Wildcats 71-58 in Williamsburg earlier in the season.
Bethel had a 42-32 rebound advantage. The Cats had a 36-24 margin in points in the paint and a 14-3 advantage in points off turnovers. The Patriots however hit nine three pointers and hit 20-of-29 free throws. The Cats hit four treys and shot just nine free throws on the night, hitting seven of those.
Cumberlands shot 43 percent from the floor while Bethel was 30-of-76 at 39 percent from the field. The Wildcats made eight more shots and had 25 more attempts in the game.
There were four ties and 10 lead changes with most of those coming in the second half.
Kamron Rose had a team high 18 points giving him 999 career points with 543 of those in a Wildcat uniform. Rose also had a team high 11 rebounds.
Jarred Walker had 17 points, three assists and three steals. Walker became the 31st member of the Wildcat 1,000-point club earlier this month. He finished the game with 426 career assists which is 11th all-time in program history. He has 223 career steals which is second in program history.
Steven Fitzgerald, the reigning MSC Player of the Week had a game high 21 points for UC.
Trends & Numbers:
Bethel is 8-0 when they outshoot their opponents.
The Cats are 8-4 when they hit more three-pointers.
The Wildcats are 12-10 when they outrebound their opponents.
Bethel is 8-7 when they have less turnovers.
The Cats are 10-5 when they lead at the half.
Coach Jeff Britt said, "It was another one of those games we certainly could have and should have won. It has been about nine of those this season which we simply did not finish. Give Cumberlands a lot of credit. They simply outplayed us in the last several minutes and beat us to a lot of loose basketballs. They are a national tournament squad no doubt."
The Cats close out their regular season hosting the UPIKE Bears Saturday at 4 p.m. It will be Senior Day with ceremonies before tip-off.
Catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com
Live stats:
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https://www.bethelathletics.com/WildcatStreaming
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