Bethel men's basketball starts season 4-0 with two wins at the Kansas Wesleyan Classic
The Threshers defeated Wayland Baptist and Northern New Mexico over the weekend to continue their win streak
SALINA — The Bethel men’s basketball team has had a hot start to their season, starting non-conference play 4-0.
Two of these wins came over the weekend at the Kansas Wesleyan Classic, where the Threshers beat Wayland Baptist 84-77 on Friday and got a win against Northern New Mexico on Saturday 77-69.
“You can't talk about the games this weekend without talking about Harper Jonas,” Head coach Jayson Artaz said. “He hit some huge threes against Wayland Baptist to put us ahead comfortably and then made some huge plays down the stretch against Northern New Mexico. Harper is a winner and does so many little things for us.”
Over the weekend, Jonas added 20 points to their win on Friday and 21 on Saturday. Through four games played so far, Jonas is averaging 14.8 points per game along with six rebounds for Bethel. He has five assists and five steals on his stat sheet thus far as well as is shooting 53.7% from the field and 41.4% from three.
Junior Carmelo Yakubu also had himself a weekend, being named KCAC Offensive Player of the Week for his stats last week.
“Melo had a great week,” Artaz said. “I can't say enough about his transformation as a player and person this year. He is very bought in and has been improving daily. He is hungry right now and that is showing in his play. I still think he can get better, but his mentality is going to get him there.”
Yakubu had 14 points on Friday and 25 on Saturday. In four games, Yakubu is averaging 17.3 points per game and 6.5 rebounds. He has 16 total assists and 8 total steals on the season as well. Yakubu is currently shooting 54.8% from the field and 57.1% from three.
There were many new additions to the Thresher basketball team seen in their opening games, including two starters: junior transfer Albert Diarra and returner Eli Wiseman.
“Albert has fit in great with our team and is getting better by the day. He has been phenomenal,” Artaz said. “Eli Wiseman has also picked up a larger role this year and I couldn't be more pleased with where he is at. He improved defensively this year and with his scoring it gives us a great pop for our team to have him on the floor.”
Wiseman had 23 points combined over the weekend, being a leader on offense for the Threshers. Last year, Wiseman came off the bench in games and averaged 6.2 points per game and shot 38.8% from the field and 40.7% from three. So far this year, Wiseman is averaging 11 points per game while shooting 46.4% from the field and 47.4% from three. He also has eight steals on the stat sheet already this season in four games played, whereas last year he totaled 12 steals in 26 games played.
Diarra is averaging 7.8 points as the Threshers starting big man, as well as 3.8 rebounds per game so far this season.
A few other notable additions and improvements from last year are seen in Cade Kittrell, Christion Whitaker and Mac Reed III. Kittrell and Whitaker are returners whereas Reed III is a freshman. Whitaker dealt with eligibility issues last year and did not get to play.
“Cade has made maybe the single biggest jump as a player that we have ever had here,” Artaz said. “We also got Christion Whitaker back this year and he has made a good impact on our team. He's been a phenomenal defender for us so far. Mac Reed III is a freshman that is going to have a great career here at Bethel. He is a pass-first point guard who makes others around him better and is a great teammate.”
Another notable returner for the Threshers is Nick Bonner, who is averaging 13 points per game currently.
“I think the beauty of our team this year is it can be anyone who really stands out for us,” Artaz noted on who stands out the most to him so far this season. “We have had three different leading scorers through our first four games and have had six different players score in double figures. This is a really well balanced team where nobody craves recognition.”
The Thresher basketball season is long, but Bethel looks forward to being on the court together and continuing to improve.
“My expectations for us are high not from a wins/losses perspective, but from a quality of play perspective,” Artaz added. “Our team wants to get better every day and is completely bought into what we are doing and playing for each other. This may be the closest overall team I have had here at Bethel and that generally leads to a good product on the floor. If we play well and bought in then I think the wins will follow.”
The Threshers face their next game on Wednesday in Thresher Gym at 6 pm. Bethel will take on Oklahoma City, who defeated fellow KCAC member Oklahoma Wesleyan recently.