Comeback Cats win Conference Opener

MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcats opened MSC play Thursday night in Crisp Arena, playing host to the (RV) Shawnee State Bears.

Down by eleven with 12:59 left in the game, the Cats fought back for a 66-63 victory and remained undefeated at 5-0. The Bears fell to 2-3 on the season.

One of the big factors in the comeback was Bethel's shooting in the second half. The Cats shot 52 percent down the stretch and hit 14-of-18 free throws in the game. Fourteen of those attempts were in the second half. Neither team had a field goal in the last three minutes of the game. Keyshawn Kennedy and Tyler Neely hit huge free throws in the last two minutes.

Kennedy finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Querrion Gadson had 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Connor Guthrie was a big part of Bethel's 34-16 advantage in bench points with 13.

The Wildcats had a 35-32 margin in rebounds over the bigger squad from Portsmouth. The Bears had 19 turnovers. Bethel scored twenty three points off those mistakes.

Coach Jeff Britt said, "I thought our kids played with determination and heart, we could have folded several different times but we kept our composure, which I'm really proud of, everyone contributed which was also a big key for us. I'm really proud of these young men."

Bethel is right back at it in another conference showdown Saturday playing host to the UPIKE Bears. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.

Watch:

 https://bethelathletics.com/watch

 Live stats:

https://bethelathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2022-23/boxscores/20221119_hjjl.xml

 Tickets:

https://www.bethelathletics.com/tickets