DALTON, Ga. – The Bethel Wildcats travel to Dalton, Georgia Thursday to meet the No. 13 Roadrunners of Dalton State. The match-up features two hot teams as Bethel is riding a three game win streak while DSU has won five in a row. It will be the seventh meeting between the two programs. The series is tied at three. Bethel is 2-1 in Dalton while DSU holds a 2-1 advantage in McKenzie.
The Wildcats are 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the SSAC. Dalton State is 15-4 and 8-1. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. CST.
Earlier this season (12/18) Dalton State beat the Wildcats in Crisp Arena 95-91. The Wildcats had a 49-27 advantage in points in the paint. They also enjoyed a 38-5 advantage in bench points. Bethel had a 21-3 margin in second chance points but it was the long ball by DSU which was Bethel's undoing.
After giving up 17 three-pointers in their 100 -82 loss to in their previous against Faulkner it was DSU capitalizing on 14 made three's which eventually proved to be the difference in the match-up.
The Wildcats shot 46 percent from the field on 32-of-69 but Dalton State was even better at 55 percent on 27-of -49 shooting. While the Roadrunners finished with their 14 three-pointers the Wildcats made seven. DSU hit 27-of-37 free throws while Bethel was 20-of-29 from the foul line.
The Roadrunners were led by Reed Dungan with 29 points. He knocked down seven treys in the game. Isiah Box scored all of his 23 points in the second half. He made six three's in the game. Sean Chisolm had 20 points before fouling out. Carnilious Simmons had 16 points before also fouling out. He completed his double-double with 12 rebounds.
Isaac Edmondson led Bethel with 22 points. Cayden Edmonson had a career high with 19 points. He also finished with his first career double- double yanking down 11 rebounds. Bradley Walker had 16 points while Chase Nappier had 12 points before fouling out.
Edmondson leads the Cats averaging 21.6 points per game. He is 9th in the nation in scoring. His 1, 202 points ranks 20th on Bethel's all-time scoring list. Earlier in the season he scored 43 points in a game which is the third most in a game in Bethel history. He was named the Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the second time on the season earlier this week.
Nappier has 47 steals which is fifth in the nation. He leads Bethel in three point attempts and made (34). He is second in scoring at 12.0 points per contest.
The Wildcats are No. 2 in offensive rebounds per game at 15.8. They have 206 steals which is 4th in the nation. They average 10.3 steals per game which is 5th in the country. The Cats outrebound their opponents 41-33 per game.
The Cats average 84.5 points per game and yield 77.5. They lead the SSAC in points per game. They are 10 -3 when scoring 80 or more points in a game. Bethel is 11-0 when they lead at the half. The Cats are 11-0 when they outshoot their opponents. Bethel is 8-0 when they make more three's in a game. They are 11-4 when they outrebound their opponent.
Jeff Britt is in his 18th season as head coach of the Wildcats. He is 316-226 at the school and is 425-288 in his career which spans 22 seasons.
Tony Ingle has been the coach of the Roadrunners since 2012. Ingle is the only coach in the history of Georgia basketball to win a national championship at the NCAA level, which he did at Kennesaw State in 2004. Coach Ingle has also been named the Georgia Coach of the Year at the high school, junior college and collegiate level. He is the only man to ever accomplish this feat.
DSU averages 82.8 points and yields 73.3 per game. Reed Dungan leads the Roadrunners averaging 19.6 points per contest. Sean Chisolm follows with 17.3 per outing. Carnilious Simmons pops in 16.3 per game while Isaiah Box is good for 14.2 per game. Simmons leads the team in blocks with 26. Box leads DSU with 43 steals which is 8th in the nation. He also leads the Runners with 85 assists.
There will be no local radio coverage but live video and live stats will be provided.
Live video available at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/daltonstate/portal.htm?eventId=404783&streamType=video
Live stats at: http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/WebcastPlayByPlay/WebcastPBP.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&compID=214827&sea=NAIMBB_2017
