Cats Beat Toppers in Crisp
MCKENZIE, Tenn. The Bethel Wildcats played host to rival Blue Mountain Christian Monday night in Crisp Arena. The Wildcats moved to 12-3 with an 85-67 victory over the Toppers. The Cats have won eight of their last ten.
The Cats remained undefeated at home at 9-0. The Wildcats are 136-55 all-time in the arena which opened in 2012.
BMC dropped to 7-10 and 3-5 in road games on the year.
It was the 32nd meeting between the two with Bethel holding a 24-7 advantage in the series.
The Wildcats led 41-34 at the half and gradually pulled away to lead by as many as 23 with seven minutes left in the second half.
Trevor Chatman led the Wildcats with 16 points. Ethan Turner had 15 points and a game high nine rebounds. D J Starr was in double figures with ten tallies.
The Bethel bench was a huge deciding factor with a 40-10 margin. Eight different Wildcats came off the bench to score.
The Wildcats had only five turnovers while they forced the Toppers into 16 miscues. The Cats had a 16-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Bryan Maxey had a game high 22 points for BMC.
The Cats shot 45 percent from the floor while the Toppers shot 41 percent from the field.
Coach Jeff Britt was pleased with the win. "This was a good way to close out the non-conference portion of our season. We played really well in the second half and a lot of players contributed to help us beat a good BMC squad. Our defense set the tone in the second half and that was big. We will enjoy this for a few hours and get ready to host a good Cumberland team Thursday in a key conference opener."
The Wildcats open MSC action Thursday at home versus Cumberland University. The tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. following the women's game.
Stats:
https://bethel.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2024-25/boxscores/20250109_rw0c.xml
Watch:
Tickets:
https://www.bethelathletics.com/tickets