PULASKI, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Southern men's basketball began the second half of the season hosting rival Bethel on Thursday night. UTS fell behind early trailing for most of the first half but rebounded to almost double up the Wildcats in the final 20 minutes to win 93-75.
Four Firehawks scored in double figures with Zaiden Cross leading all scorers with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Mike Bell, Jr. added 16 points and five rebounds. Koby Isacc contributed 16 points from the bench. Vito Vujovic tossed in 10 points. The Firehawks started out cold in the opening seven minutes trailing 21-10. UTS down by their largest deficit of the game, 11 points, began to heat up and closed the gap to trail 48-42 at the half. Cross led the Firehawks with 12 first half points, shooting five of eight from the floor including two from distance. Bell, Jr., Eric Robinson and Isaac each added seven tallies in the opening 20 minutes. UTS shot 15-25 (60%) from the floor and 4-10 (40%) from three-point land. BU out rebounded UTS 11-9.
In the second half, the Firehawks ignited to 15-30 (50%) to the Wildcats 9-28 (32%). Bethel started out the final half netting the first four points to put the Firehawks down by double digits again. Over the next 10 minutes, the Firehawks assembled a 23-12 run to their first lead since they led early in the first half. The run was comprised of seven points by Vojovic, five by Bell, Jr., three by Mark Vance, a pair by Ryan Dunn, and one point from Robinson. The Firehawks forced seven Wildcat turnovers including four steals. The Firehawks defense began to constrict the Wildcats tighter and tighter as the final minutes played out. UTS dominated the final eight minutes outscoring the Wildcats 30-11.
BY THE NUMBERS
54.5 – UTS shot 30-55 for the game shooting 54.5 percent to BU shooting 28-58 for 48.3 percent.
9 – UTS connected on nine trifectas, four more than BU.
24 – UTS took advantange of each trip to the free-throw line, making 24 of 32 trips.
2 – The Wildcats out rebounded the Firehawks 32-30.
24 – UT Southern forced 24 Bethel turnovers, UTS committed 17 errors.
36 – The Firehawks picked up 36 points off of turnovers, doubling up the Wildcats with 18.
NEXT UP
The Firehawks will return to action on January 4^th hosting Southern States Athletic Conference travel partner Blue Mountain Christian. Tipoff is set for two p.m following the completion of the women's game at noon.
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