Wildcat Season Ends in MSC Opening Round
HENDERSON, Tenn. – For the second year in a row, the Bethel Wildcats saw their season end in the opening round of the Mid-South Conference Championships. It was the second straight year the Cats were eliminated at Freed-Hardeman. The Wildcats lost 101-80 to the Lions Tuesday night in Henderson.
Bethel and Freed split in the regular season. Bethel won 79-77 in Henderson. The Lions won 79-72 in McKenzie. Tuesday's game was the 80th meeting between the old rivals. FHU now has a 42-38 advantage in the series.
The first half was tight one for the most part until Freed used a 9-1 run in the last four minutes to take a 43-31 margin at the break.
The Cats closed to within nine at 57-48 five minutes into the second half, but FHU used a 11-0 run to break the game open.
Bethel shot 45 percent from the floor. The Cats hit just five three-pointers on 24 attempts. Bethel had a 33-30 rebound advantage. The Lions shot 55 percent and hit 12 three-pointers. The Lions hit 34 treys in the three games the teams played against each other this year.
Bethel's Jarred Walker finished a sterling career with 23 points, five steals and three assists. Walker finished with 433 assists which is 11th in program history. He had 233 career steals which is second best in program history. Walker became a member of the Wildcat 1,000 Point Club earlier this year.
Kamron Rose had a team high 27 points and completed his career with over a 1, 000 points. Senior Drew Thomas played for the first time in over ten games and scored 12 points, all in the second half.
Freed's Kortland Martin had a game high 33 points and became FHU's all-time leading scorer.
Coach Jeff Britt was proud of his team and their effort throughout the season. "I am really proud of these guys. They never quit despite a lot of adversity thrown at them this year. Injuries, Covid and other factors took their toll, but they hung in there. We have some key players returning and we have some good recruits coming in. We expect to get back on track next season. We are excited about hitting the road this week and continue our recruiting momentum." Britt added, "We want to thank our fans for their great support and let them know we appreciate each one of them."
The Cats finished 12-18 on the season. Freed moved to 19-11 and moves on to the MSC Quarterfinals Thursday in Bowling Green.
