Wildcats See Season End with Heartbreaking Finish
MCKENZIE, Tenn. –The Bethel Wildcats and the Cumberland Phoenix met in the opening round of the Mid-South Conference Tournament Tuesday night in Crisp Arena in McKenzie. The teams had split their two games during the regular season.
The Wildcats and the Phoenix shot a combined 59 free throws Tuesday night. It was a physical game from the tip as neither team scored a basket until almost three minutes in. The Phoenix went up by as many as ten in the opening half but the Wildcats clawed back to make things just a two-point Cumberland advantage (31-29) at the break.
In the last twenty minutes, neither team held greater than a seven-point lead and in the last six minutes, neither team was ahead by more than three points. Up 67-66 with 1:15 until the buzzer, Cumberland missed a three, two free-throws, and a layup. Bethel's Querrion Gadson hit two free throws to give the Wildcats a 68-67 advantage. With 11.1 seconds left the Phoenix drove in the front court only to see the ball knocked out of bounds by Bethel. CU inbounded the ball with 1.5 seconds left. Tyler Byrd hit a game-winning three-pointer and was fouled. The Phoenix would win 70-68.
Nassir Coleman was the lead bucker-getter for Cumberland with 16 points and not far behind him was Jaylen Negron with 14 and Isaac Stephens with 12. Bethel's Querrion Gadson had a team high 17 points. Tyler Neely and Connor Guthrie scored 12 points each. Latrell Carter closed out his collegiate career with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Each squad struggled from the free throw line. CU was 13-of-28 while Bethel was 18-of-31 from the line. There were nine lead changes in the game.
Bethel closed out the year with a 14-14 mark. CU moved to 14-15.
Cumberland will now match up with top-seeded Georgetown (Ky.) on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT.
Coach Jeff Britt commented, "We had our chances but just couldn't close it out there at the end. Our free throw shooting was bad and it proved to be a huge part of our undoing. It was a hard fought and physical affair."