MOBILE, Ala. – The Bethel Wildcats travel to Mobile, Alabama Thursday to meet the Mobile Rams. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. It will be the 10th meeting between the programs with Bethel holding a 7-2 lead in the series. Bethel is 6-0 in McKenzie and 1-2 in Mobile.
Bethel is 14-10 overall and 7-5 in the SSAC. Mobile has lost five in a row and is 8-15 and 3-9 in the league.
The Wildcats beat the Rams 73-59 on January 11 in Crisp Arena. The Wildcats led by only four at 32-28 at halftime but then used a 12-2 run in the first six minutes of the second half to lead 44-30. Mobile would battle back to trail 46-42. The Wildcats used a stifling defense however and pulled away again as they held the Rams to just 17 points in the last eight minutes.
Charles Cobb scored a career high 20 points to share scoring honors with Isaac Edmondson. Chase Nappier had 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Braxton Nappier had a game high eight assists. Noah Chatman had eight second half points. Tony-Toni Wright led the Rams with 20 points.
The Cats were able to win despite being outrebounded 39-27. Mobile also outshot Bethel 40 percent to 39 percent from the floor. The Wildcats hit six three's while Mobile hit just one on nine attempts. A huge difference in the game was Bethel forcing Mobile into 28 turnovers. Bethel had a 32-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
Edmondson leads the Cats averaging 20.1 points per game. He is 14th in the nation in scoring. His 1, 252 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 three weeks ago.
Chase Nappier has 59 steals which is third in the nation. He leads Bethel in three point attempts and made (41). He is second in scoring at 12.0 points per contest.
The Wildcats are No. 1 in offensive rebounds per game at 15.7. They have 257 steals which is 2nd in the nation. They average 10.7 steals per game which is 3rd in the country. The Cats outrebound their opponents 40-32 per game. They are 10th in rebound margin.
The Cats average 83. 2 points per game and yield 76.2. They lead the SSAC in points per game. They are 11 -3 when scoring 80 or more points in a game.
Bethel is 12-1 when they lead at the half. The Cats are 12-0 when they outshoot their opponents. Bethel is 9-0 when they make more three's in a game. They are 11-5 when they outrebound their opponent.
Jeff Britt is in his 18th season as head coach of the Wildcats. He is 318-228 and has a 427 -290 career mark.
Joe Niland is in his 19th season at Mobile and is 337-255. His career mark is 464-305.
Tony-Toni Wright leads the Rams in scoring at 15.7 points per game. JaBarie Escoffery is second with 10.9 per outing. Will Stanford follows with 10.4 per contest.
D.J. Hill leads the team in steals with 39 and assists with 84. Escoffery leads the squad with 43.
The Rams average 71.5 points per game and yield 74.5.
Wright is 20th in the nation in field goal percentage at 56 percent.
There will be no local radio but fans can follow the action at:
Live Video
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/mobile/
Live Stats
http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Team/TeamSchedule.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&sea=NAIMBB_2017&team=453
