MCKENZIE, Tenn. – After suffering a tough loss Friday on the opening night of the Chick-Fil-A Classic the Bethel Wildcats bounced back with an impressive 103-93 win over Southeastern Saturday night in Crisp Arena.
The Cats improved to 2-2 on the season while the Fire dropped to 1-1.
The Wildcats led 43-40 at halftime. Trailing 49-47 early in the second half, the Wildcats ripped off 12 straight points to take a 59-49 lead. Southeastern would shave the Bethel margin to five on several occasions but in the end it would be a lead Bethel would never relinquish.
Bethel shot 48 percent from the field hitting 37-of-76 shots from the floor. They knocked down 11 threes and hit 18-of-25 foul shots. Southeastern actually outshot the Wildcats hitting 36-of-68 shots at 52 percent. They hit six threes and were 15-of-24 from the charity stripe. The Fire had 19 turnovers while the Wildcats had 11 in the game.
Bethel had six players score in double figures. Cameron Ricks finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Javonte Ellis followed with 18 points. Both were big factors in Bethel's second half run. Cayden Edmonson had 15 points. Charles Cobb had 14 off the Wildcat bench. Foday Sankaray contributed with 14 points while Jarred Walker had 10 points and five assists. Noah Chatman was a key for the Wildcats with a team high 12 rebounds.
The Fire had four players in double digits with Blake Morrow leading the way with 30 points. He had scored 39 against Cumberland University Friday night.
Both squads finished with 40 rebounds each.
Coach Jeff Britt said, "This was a nice win for us over a really good basketball squad. We were able to push the ball and I thought that was a big factor in the game. We had good energy and did a good job distributing the ball I thought. Javonte and Cameron stepped up and make key contributions."
The Wildcats return to action Thursday hosting Freed-Hardeman at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Wildcats play the Lady Lions at 5:30 p.m.
Live stats: http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
Live video: http://www.bethelathletics.com/WildcatVision
Live audio: https://www.thefarmradio.com/
