MCKENZIE, Tenn. — The No. 20 Bethel Wildcats won their seventh straight and 103-72 win over the visiting Blue Mountain Toppers Monday night in Crisp Arena. The Cats moved to 19-5 overall and 13-3 in the SSAC. BMC fell to 10-11 and 4-11. Bethel has won 15 of their last 17 games.
Bethel is 13- 3 at home on the year and 82-26 all-time in Crisp Arena. The Cats are 6-2 in road games. The Wildcats are 59 -39 all-time versus SSAC opponents.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 15-0 lead and led at halftime 50-21.
Cayden Edmonson led Bethel with 23 points and nine rebounds. Edmonson is 9th in the nation in field goal percentage at 61 percent. Isaac Edmondson had eight points giving him 1, 744 which places him 11th on the all-time scoring list at Bethel. Chase Nappier and Bradley Walker each scored 12 points while Jamarius Mayberry had a career high 11 points. The Cats are 19-4 when three or more players score in double figures. Tyree Beason led BMC with 21 points.
Bethel shot 55 percent from the floor hitting 44-of-79 shots from the floor. The Cats had a 45-34 rebound advantage and forced the Toppers into 25 turnovers.
Bethel is 18-3 when scoring 80 or more points in a game and 12-0 when scoring 90 or more points in a game. The Wildcats have scored 80 or more points in 22 of their 24 games this season.
The victory was Coach Jeff Britt's 450th career win. He is 450-297 in his 28 -year coaching career. Britt is 10th among active NAIA coaches. He is 341-235 at Bethel.
Coach Britt commented on the win. "We are pleased with how our squad has stayed focused and paid attention to details with our game plan. We were tuned in defensively tonight. This one of the best defensive teams we have ever had here. Cayden continues to be aggressive and we love his energy. He made some outstanding moves in and around the basket tonight. We face two big road games this week so this was a nice home win to jump-start the week."
The Cats return to action Thursday with a road game at Dalton State. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 CST.
Live video:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/daltonstate/portal.htm?eventId=470485&streamType=video
Live stats:
http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/WebcastPlayByPlay/WebcastPBP.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&compID=223946&sea=NAIMBB_2018
The Cats travel Pulaski Saturday to face Martin Methodist at 4 p.m.
Fans can listen to the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com.
Live video:
http://www.bethelathletics.com/WildcatVision
Live stats:
http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
Live audio:
https://www.thefarmradio.com/
