Wildcats Drop Heartbreaker to Running Eagles

MCKENZIE, Tenn. – In a game featuring ten lead changes and twelve ties, the Bethel Wildcats came up two points short falling 76-74 to the Life Running Eagles Saturday in Crisp Arena. It marked the third straight two-point loss in the series to the visitors from Georgia.

With 1:09 remaining Bethel's Tyler Neely hit a jumper to tie the game at 74. Life's Nathan Presnell hit two free throws with 37 seconds left to give the Eagles what proved to be the game winners. Bethel had one last chance but turned the ball over in the waning seconds.

Bethel lost their third straight and fell to 5-3. The Running Eagles improved to 6-1.

With the game tied at 29 all with 4:08 left in the first half, the Eagles scored 12 unanswered points to take a 41-29 margin. Bethel mounted a slight comeback to cut the deficit to 43-36 at the half.

The Cats outscored Life 38-33 in the second half but came up two points short.

Both squads struggled from the free throw line. Life was 13-of-25 while Bethel was 15-of-24. Life hit nine three-pointers. Bethel was just 3-of-17 from outside. The Wildcats had a 43-32 rebound advantage.

Dimitrije Stojanovic and Neely led Bethel with 13 points each. Stojanovic had a team high eight rebounds. Querrion Gadson had 12 points while Keyshawn Kennedy finished with 10 points.

Mohamed Elgohary led Life with 16 points and a game high 11 rebounds.

Coach Jeff Britt commented, "I am really disappointed. We missed free throws and shot very poorly from outside. We committed too many fouls and had too many turnovers. You are not going to beat a good team like Life with those kinds of mistakes." 

The Wildcats travel to Jonesboro Sunday for an exhibition at Arkansas State with tip-off scheduled at 2 p.m.

Video:

https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/75ac908b-93ed-42b9-ae87-c9fc3e875b66#bucketId=1

Stats:

https://astateredwolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary