Cats Face UT Southern in Regular Season Finale
PULASKI, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcats close out the regular season with a road game at UT Southern Saturday. Tip-off in Pulaski is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Live stats:
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/boxscores/20230218_mxbk.xml
Watch:
https://utsfirehawks.com/watchlive
The Wildcats returned home Thursday to face Cumberland University in their regular season home finale.
Seniors Latrelle Carter along with managers Amber Eason and Marissa Nunnery were honored in pregame ceremonies.
With postseason implications on the line, the Wildcats took care of business winning 81-68.
The Cats led 34-27 at the half. The Phoenix opened the second half and caught the Cats at 34 with 17 minutes left in the game. Tied at 36, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 unanswered run and led the rest of the game.
The Wildcats hot 53 percent from the floor and hit 22-of-28 free throw attempts. The Cats had a 38-28 advantage in points in the paint. Bethel had a 34-21 margin in rebounds. CU shot 41 percent in the game.
Querrion Gadson had a team high 21 points for Bethel. A J Burnett came off the bench with 18 points. Carter finished with 16 points.
Jaylen Negron led CU with 21 points.
Bethel improved to 14-12 overall and 10-11 in the MSC.
The Firehawks dropped their third game in a row with a 76-63 loss to Freed- Hardeman Thursday. The Hawks enter the game with a 16-10 overall mark and are 12-9 in the league.
The Wildcats and UTS had a typical knock down drag out MSC affair in early December in Crisp Arena. In the end it would be the Cats prevailing 70-60. In doing so, the Cats helped Coach Jeff Britt earn his 500th career victory. Ironically, Coach Britt won his 400th game on the UTS/Martin Methodist floor back in 2016 when the Cats defeated Pikeville in the SSAC/MSC Challenge.
The game featured five ties and 16 lead changes.
Bethel shot 43 percent (24-55) from the floor. UTS was 23-of-62 from the field at 37 percent. The ability to get to the free throw line was big for the Wildcats as they hit 20-of-25 free throws.
The Cats dominated the boards with a 41-19 margin. The Cats had a 36-26 margin in points off the bench.
Jose Nazario led Bethel with a game high 23 points. Connor Guthrie and Dimitrije Stojanovic both came off the bench with 10 points each. A J Burnett was solid with seven points and six boards, most of those in the second half. Querrion Gadson finished with nine points and six boards.
Adarion Hudson led the Firehawks with 15 points. C J Greer 12 points while Kendall Wright had 10 points for UTS.
Cat Scratches
With his 507 wins, Coach Jeff Britt is 10th in the nation in victories by an active coach.
The victory over Cumberland Thursday was Britt's 399th win as head coach of the Wildcats.
The Wildcats are 121-48 all-time in the ten-year history of Crisp Arena.
It will be the 35th meeting between the two programs with UTS holding a 23-11 advantage in the series.
The Mid-South Conference Tournament begins next week. Details including pairings, dates and times will be released over the weekend.