Wildcats return Home to Face UTS
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcats return home Saturday to face Tennessee Southern at 4 p.m. It will be the 33rd meeting between the two programs. Dating back to when UTS was Martin Methodist, the Hawks lead the series 22-10.
The two met in December in Pulaski with UTS winning 69-62. The Cats got off to a slow start trailing 14-0 after the first six minutes of the game. Behind the red-hot shooting of Jamarius Mayberry, the Cats battled back and took a 28-24 lead with six minutes left in the half. Bethel would go on to lead 38-34 at the break. Mayberry had 16 points in the half. Jon Brown pitched in with eight first half points. Bethel's board work was a factor in the comeback. The Wildcats had a 21-11 rebound advantage in the first twenty minutes.
Bethel led 41-38 with 17 minutes left in the game. UTS outscored the Cats 16-4 and grabbed a 54-45 margin with eight minutes left. Mayberry, Brown, and Jarred Walker pulled the Cats to within 54-53 with six minutes remaining. The Hawks countered and took a 61 -53 lead with four minutes left. Bethel rallied and cut it to 61-60 with two left. UTS would outscore Bethel 8-2 to win by seven. UTS had a 25-12 advantage in bench points. The Hawks shot 48 percent from the floor while Bethel shot 35 percent from the field. Mayberry had a game high 21 points. Brown finished with 14. Adarion Hudson led UTS with 19 points.
The Cats are 11-12 overall and 3-12 in the MSC. The Cats suffered a heartbreaking 78-76 loss at Life University Thursday night. Life hit nine of their first 14 attempts from the field and opened a 22-11 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. The Eagles scooted out to a 35-19 margin with 6:30 left in the half. Bethel responded with 10 unanswered points and cut the deficit to 35-29. The Eagles fought back scoring the last ten points of the half and led 45-29 at the break. With 16:30 left in the game, Life had a 52-37 margin. At that point, the Wildcats mounted a furious comeback and on a three-pointer by Jared Walker took their first lead of the game at 67-66 with just over five minutes left. Life retook the lead seconds later, but after baskets by Mayberry and Hayden Thomas the Wildcats found themselves leading 74-68. Life outscored the Cats however 10-2 to win.
The Wildcats shot 44 percent from the floor. Bethel was 8-of-20 from behind the three-point line. The Cats were 10-of-18 from the free throw line. Life had a 30-26 advantage in rebounding. Life shot 50 percent from the field and hit 10-of-22 three-pointers. The Eagles connected on 10-of-14 free throw tries. Kamron Rose led Bethel in scoring with 15 points. Thomas had 14 while Mayberry finished with 14 points. Walker had 12 points.
UTS dropped a road contest to Freed-Hardeman 91-71 on Thursday. With the loss, the Hawks are 17-7 and 12-4. UTS has dropped two of their last three and will arrive in McKenzie with a 6-5 road mark.
Bethel is 6-5 at home on the season and sports a 114-39 all-time mark in Crisp Arena.
The Wildcats are averaging 74.3 and yielding 71.0 points per outing.
Rose leads Bethel in scoring at 11.8 points per game. Brown follows at 11.5 while Mayberry averages 10.3 per outing.
Walker enters the game with 414 career assists which is 11th all-time in program history. He is 3rd all-time in steals with 212. Walker is four steals away from catching former Bethel great Scott Hamm who had 216. Drew Woods is the all-time leader with 264.
Combining his play at West Florida and Bethel, Brown is a member of the 1,000 Point Club with 1, 179 career points. Brown has scored 332 as a Wildcat.
Bethel shoots 42 percent from the floor while their opponents are at 43 percent. The Cats are at 32 percent in made three-pointers while the opposition is at 32 percent. Bethel shoots 66 percent from the foul line. The Cats outrebound their opponents 38-32 per outing.
Eight from 500:
Jeff Britt is in his 22nd year as the head men's basketball coach at Bethel and his 33rd year as a college basketball coach. His record as a head coach is 492-341 and includes 11 seasons with 20-plus wins. He currently ranks 10th for most wins among active NAIA Division I men's basketball coaches. Britt is 386-298 at Bethel.
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 11-7 when they outrebound their opponents.
Bethel is 7-4 when they have less turnovers.
The Cats are 10-4 when they lead at the half.
UTS is led in scoring by Mohamed ElGohary who averages 15/3 points per game. Hudson pops in 14.2 per outing.
Dugan Lyne is in his fourth season as head coach. He is in his 10th season overall with the University of Tennessee Southern men's basketball program and his 14th year overall in collegiate coaching.
Official Game Day Notes:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/2021-22_Men-s_Basketball_Game_Notes_-_Feb._5.pdf
Catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com.
Live Stats:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20220205_so69.xml
Live video:
https://bethelathletics.com/WildcatStreaming