DALTON, Ga. – The Bethel Wildcats saw their three game winning streak snapped Thursday night losing at Dalton State 74-66. Bethel fell to 12-9 overall and 5-4 in the SSAC. The No. 13 Roadrunners extended their winning streak to six in a row and moved to 16-4 and 9-1. DSU took a 4-3 lead in the series.
Bethel held a 39-36 lead at halftime. In a nip-and-tuck affair which was tied 55 all with seven minutes left it was DSU outscoring Bethel 19-11 to secure their home victory.
Bethel was 28-of-78 from the floor shooting 35 percent. The Wildcats hit just four three-pointers on 20 attempts. Bethel was 6-of-9 from the free throw line. The Roadrunners were 26-of-61 from the field at 42 percent. DSU was 6-of-16 from three-point range. The Runners were able to get to the free throw line hitting 16-of-21 attempts.
Bethel was outrebounded for only the fifth time on the season as Dalton State had a 43-41 advantage. The DSU bench was a factor with a 29-13 margin in the game.
Chase Nappier led Bethel with 16 points. Isaac Edmondson followed with 11 tallies. Carnilious Simmons led DSU with 19 points. Reed Dungan had 18 for the Roadrunners.
The Wildcats travel to Montgomery Saturday to face the No. 24 Faulkner Eagles at 4 p.m. The Cats fell to the hot shooting Eagles 100-82 earlier this season in Crisp Arena. The 100 points are the most scored by an opponent against Bethel this season.
The Eagles shot a blistering 64 percent in the first half hitting 18-of-28 from the field. They knocked down nine of their 17 three-pointers and grabbed a 51-39 lead at the break. Faulkner finished the contest hitting 33-of-56 shots for 58 percent.
Five players finished in double figures for the Eagles. Lucas Luttrell had a game high 22 points. Logan Jozwiak followed with 19 while Rene Scott scored 16 points. Marquis Grays had 15 tallies and Adnan Halilovic completed the double digit scoring with 13 points. Faulkner had 24 assists in the game.
Bethel was 28-of-79 from the floor for 35 percent. The Wildcats struggled from long distance hitting just six of 34 attempts from downtown. Bethel is 0-6 when being out shot by an opponent.
Isaac Edmondson led Bethel with 20 points while Chase Nappier had 13 points.
Faulkner is 14-6 and 6-4 after their win over Martin Methodist Thursday.
The series is tied at three each. The Wildcats hold a 3-2 advantage in McKenzie and are 0-1 in Montgomery.
Edmondson leads the Cats averaging 21.6 points per game. He is 9th in the nation in scoring. His 1, 213 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 50 steals which is fifth in the nation. He leads Bethel in three point attempts and made (35). 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 215 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 11-1 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 316-227 at the school and is 425-289 in his career which spans 22 seasons.
Scott Sanderson enters his fourth season as Faulkner's head basketball coach. In his three seasons at the helm, the Eagles have gone 59- 37 overall and 36-21 in the SSAC. In 2016, he led the team to an SSAC Tournament title and the opening round of the NAIA national tournament.
Grays leads Faulkner in scoring averaging 15.2 points per game. Rene Scott is second popping in 13.7 points per contest. Jowiak is good for 12.4 points per outing.
The Eagles average 80.1 points per game and yield just 67.3 which is 10th best in the nation. The Eagles are No. 1 in three point field goal defense at 25 percent. They are 10th in overall field goal defense at 39 percent.
There will be no local radio coverage but live video and live stats will be provided.
Live video available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvBs0okgtedJxrooFJKsumw/videos?view=2&flow=grid
Live stats at: http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
