Wildcats Close Out Tigers in MSC Quarterfinals

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The second-seeded Georgetown College men's basketball team (22-7) lost 82-74 to Bethel University (18-11) in the quarterfinals of the Mid-South Conference tournament in Bowling Green Arena on Saturday night. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The conference tournament started off as a back-and-forth affair as the Wildcats knocked down some shots early to grab a 13-10 lead at the opening media timeout. Out of the break, the Tigers got rolling from distance as Bubba Leavell hit his first 3-pointer of the day, followed by a trey from Zion Harmon. Harmon scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half to help guide the Tigers. Georgetown controlled a 32-24 advantage at the final media break of the half and capitalized from there. Outscoring the Wildcats 9-5 over the final five minutes to lead 41-29 at the break.

Within the opening two minutes of the second half, the Wildcats made it a 10-point game. Despite absorbing Bethel's opening blow, Georgetown seemed to have things figured out, leading 52-42 after Aden Nyekan sank a pair of foul shots at the 14:08 mark. Bethel kept throwing different offensive sets and eventually had whittled the lead down to a one-possession game with just over 10 minutes to play. Coming out of the media break, Bethel tied things at 57-57 and took the lead for good at the 8:22 mark with another layup. The Wildcats' extended 16-0 run put things out of reach for the Tigers, who closed things to six but could not overcome the Bethel run, falling 82-74.

THE TEAM 
Georgetown shot 41.8% from the field. The Tigers were 7-27 (25.9%) from deep and shot 11-14 (78.6%) at the free-throw line. BU won the rebounding battle 45-41, while the Tigers led in assists, 16-13. GC produced six steals to BU's 10.

THE PLAYERS
* Isaiah Mason scored a team-high 18 points and had six rebounds with five blocks.
* Darien Lewis added 14 with seven assists and four rebounds.
* Zion Harmon finished with 14 points off the bench with three assists.

UP NEXT
The Tigers await their official NAIA tournament fate, which is determined on March 5 at 7:00 p.m.