Bethel men's basketball falls in season opener
The Threshers faced lineup changes to fall in their opening contest 93-67 to William Woods.
FULTON, Mo. — On Saturday the Bethel men’s basketball team started their long awaited season with a trip to William Woods. The Threshers fell to the Owls in Fulton 93-67 after having many changes in their lineup.
The starting five looked a little different for Bethel due to eligibility issues and transfers coming in. They started an all senior squad in Nick Bonner, Harper Jonas, Jalyn Todd, Jared Richardson, and transfer Keyaun Hoskin. They were without their sole Preseason All-KCAC selection and 2022-23 KCAC Freshman of the Year in Carmelo Yakubu, along with other familiar faces not in the rotation.
“Keyaun has shown he can play well in this conference and gives us an experienced guy to add to our roster,” head coach Jayson Artaz said. “We are still trying to figure out our best lineup to start the game for us. We are looking at every option right now to give us the best lineup to start, but I think starters can be a little overrated for the most part.”
The Threshers also added another transfer in the offseason in junior Eli Wiseman and redshirt from last season, Carter Reid, was now eligible.
In the first half, Bonner carried the Threshers offensively, ending the half with 14 points. Bethel went into the break down 49-32 although they shot 43.5% from the floor.
Bonner continued to play hot in the second half, adding six more points to his statline and ending the game with 20 points.
“Nick played well offensively,” Artaz said. “He has the ability to be a really good player for us. He can get things going and has been one of our better players in the preseason. In the game he was able to finish shots and did a good job of getting to the line and finishing at the line. I am glad he had a good start to the season and I am looking forward to him building off of this.”
Playing their season opener with a new coach, William Woods ended the game with a 93-67 win over Bethel.
Hoskin finished his first game in a Thresher uniform with 12 points and led the team in rebounds with six. Todd finished close behind with 11 points.
Bethel shot 69.7% from the charity stripe in the contest, 34% from the field, and 25% from three-point range while also tallying up 17 turnovers.
“We won't make any massive changes heading into Friday, but we do need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and rebounding,” Artaz said. “We gave up 26 points off of our turnovers and 17 points off of offensive rebounds. Those should be things we can control and if we take care of the ball it is a completely different game for us so we have to play better and coach that better for our guys.”
The Thresher basketball squad will face their next opponent on Friday as they take the trip to Olathe to take on MidAmerica Nazarene with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.