Cats Come up Short on Senior Day
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcats closed out their regular season and honored their seniors Saturday when they played host to the UPIKE Bears.
Players Terrell Brown, Jamarius Mayberry, Kamron Rose, Drew Thomas and Jarred Walker were honored in pregame ceremonies. Student assistant Jacob Rose and manger Jacob Howard were also honored.
With the game tied at 70 all with five minutes remaining, the Bears dampened the night with a 16- 10 run to close out the game and win 86-80. It was Bethel's third straight loss. The Cats dropped to 12-17 overall and 4-17 in the MSC. The Bears improved to 16-12 and 9-11. The win snapped a UPIKE three game losing skid.
Jarred Walker led the Cats with a game high 24 points. Walker also had five steals and four assists. Walker who joined the Bethel 1,00 Point Club this season finished the game with 430 career assists which is 11th in program history. He has 228 career steals which is second best in program history.
Kamron Rose hit a jumper in the paint in the first half which put him over the career 1,000-point mark. He has 562 of those in a Wildcat uniform. Tyreek Montgomery finished in double figures with 11 points. Jacob Brown led the Bears with 19 points.
UPIKE's bench outscored the Wildcats 41-19. The Bears had a huge advantage at the foul line connecting on 22-of 30 attempts. Bethel was 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The game featured 12 ties and 13 lead changes.
Trends & Numbers:
Bethel is 8-0 when they outshoot their opponents.
The Cats are 8-5 when they hit more three-pointers.
The Wildcats are 12-11 when they outrebound their opponents.
Bethel is 8-8 when they have less turnovers.
The Cats are 10-5 when they lead at the half.
Coach Jeff Britt commented, "It was another tough loss. Give UPIKE credit as they made plays down the stretch. We fought hard but just couldn't get it done at the end. We will continue to work hard and look forward to the postseason."
The Cats will travel to Freed-Hardeman Tuesday to meet the Lions in the opening round of the MSC Championships. Tip-off for the game has not been released at this time.
The teams split in the regular season. Bethel won 79-77 in Henderson. The Lions won 79-72 in McKenzie.
Tuesday's game will mark the 80th meeting between the old rivals. FHU has a 41-38 advantage in the series.
Live audio:
Catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com
Live stats:
https://www.bethelathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20220217_9ain.xml
Live video:
https://gofhulions.com/stretch
