PIKEVILLE, KY- The Bethel Wildcats used a 23-7 run in the first half to pull away to a 39-23 margin and went on to beat the Pikeville Bears 97-92 Saturday afternoon in Pikeville. Bethel captured their first MSC win and improved to 5-6 overall and 1-6 in the league. The Bears fell to 5-7 and 3-6.
Bethel shot 54 percent in the first half and led 50-38 at the break. Jamarius Mayberry (16) and Chandler Clements (10) combined for 26 of the first half points the Cats posted.
The Wildcats moved out to a 69-48 margin with 14 minutes left in the second half but the Bears mounted a fierce comeback and with seconds left Bethel's lead was down to two at 94-92. Jarred Walker sealed the deal with a massive three-pointer to help preserve the win. Walker scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half. Mayberry had a career high 27 points. Clements finished with 14 tallies while Kamron Rose followed with 12 points, nine of those coming in the second half.
Christian Sweazie and Malcolm Green led UPike with 19 points each.
Bethel was 36-of-73 from the floor at 49 percent. The Wildcats knocked down 11 three's and finished 14-of- 15 from the free throw line. Bethel had a 35-29 advantage in rebounds.
Pikeville was 31-of-63 from the field at 49 percent. The Bears hit 12 three-pointers and were 18-of-26 from the foul line.
Coach Jeff Britt said his squad put together a full 40 minutes and that was the difference. "I'm very proud of our young men. We have stressed the importance of putting together 40 minutes of a complete game and more if we needed it. Hopefully we learned from Thursday when we had a 10 point lead with three minutes left."
The Wildcats return home for a 7 p.m. match-up Monday night against Crowley's Ridge. The Wildcats won 89-82 at CRC on December 12.
Live video:
https://www.bethelathletics.com/f/WildcatVision.php
Live stats:
http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
