NORTH NEWTON, Kan. - After two stellar seasons from both the women's and men's basketball programs of Bethel College, both squads will now head to Wichita on Friday night to take part in the NAIA National Championship Opening Rounds, presented by Ballogy.
This will mark the first time in school history that both programs have been able to qualify for their respective national championships in the same season. Overall, this is also the first time in program history that the women's basketball team will represent Bethel on the national stage. It will be the second time in program history for the men, after qualifying for the 2003 NAIA National Championships.
Presented in this preview article will be details of both teams and their matchups this Friday night at the Garvey Center in Wichita.
FRIDAY, MARCH 12
6:00 p.m. - Thresher Men's Basketball vs Voorhees - Garvey Center, Wichita, Kan. (WATCH LIVE LINK)
8:00 p.m. - Thresher Women's Basketball vs Vanguard - Garvey Center, Wichita, Kan. (WATCH LIVE LINK)
SATURDAY, MARCH 13
6:00 p.m. - Winner of Bethel/Voorhees vs Northwestern - Garvey Center, Wichita, Kan. (WATCH LIVE LINK) (TICKETS LINK)
8:00 p.m. - Winner of Bethel/Vanguard vs MidAmerica Nazarene - Garvey Center, Wichita, Kan. (WATCH LIVE LINK) (TICKETS LINK)
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: BETHEL MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Thresher men's basketball team enters the NAIA National Championship Opening Round as the No. 18 team in the NAIA Top 25 poll with an overall record of 19-6, and a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference record of 16-4. Bethel clinched the KCAC regular-season championship for the first time since 2002-2003 and was able to also win the KCAC Postseason Tournament Championship for the first time in program history. They received an automatic bid into the 48-team NAIA National Championship.
As previously mentioned, this is the second time in the program's 107-year history of sending a team to the NAIA National Championships. Bethel's first time making the national championships was in 2002-2003, where they lost in the first round to Saint Vincent (Pennsylvania) 76-62.
This season, the Threshers will take on the Voorhees (South Carolina) Tigers in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round on Friday, March 13 at 6:00 p.m. inside the Garvey Center on the campus of Friends University in Wichita.
The Threshers come into the matchup with six statistical categories ranked among the Top 25 of the NAIA. They are 10th in the nation in steals (228), 15th in both steals/game (9.12) and rebounds/game (41.8), 21st in total rebounds (1,045), and 24th in both defensive field goal percentage (41.3%) and defensive rebounds/game (30.08).
Leading the way for Bethel is junior Jaylon Scott. Scott became the all-time leading rebounder in the program history after the Threshers' conference tournament championship victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan last week. He is now at 983 career rebounds, breaking the previous record of 974 by Darrell Ediger from 1967-1971. Scott is now 17 rebounds away from becoming the first player in the program's history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career, and he would join Abby Schmidt as the only two players from both teams in Bethel's history to do so.
Scott comes into Friday's matchup leading the Threshers this season with 15.88 points/game, 11.96 rebounds/game, and 5.08 assists/game. The junior was recognized as the overall KCAC Player of the Year this season, as well as being a two-time consecutive KCAC Defensive Player of the Year. Scott is ranked among the NAIA Top 25 in five individual statistical categories, including being the nation's leader in defensive rebounding and third in total rebounding.
Joining Scott on the All-KCAC teams are Clifford Byrd II on the Second Team, Bryant Mocaby as an Honorable Mention, and Harper Jonas on the All-Freshmen Team. Byrd II has been a lights-out defender this season and is currently second in the NAIA with 82 steals on the year. He is six steals from tying the single-season program record at Bethel, currently held by Frank Flores who had 88 in 2002-2003.
Bryant Mocaby has proven to be a dangerous shooter from the perimeter and leads the team with 62 three-pointers. Harper Jonas has turned in a few of the best games of his young career as of late and has become a strong piece to their rotation.
Coach Jayson Artaz is in his third year as the head coach of the program, and enters Friday's game with an overall record of 56-31. Each of these three years has been winning seasons, their first time having three-consecutive winning seasons since 1996-1999. If the Threshers should win on Friday, that would give them their second-consecutive 20-win season, and the fourth overall for the program. Coach Artaz earned the honor of being this year's KCAC Coach of the Year due to the play of his Threshers.
The Voorhees Tigers come into Friday's game with an overall record of 3-8, and were able to clinch a bid to this year's national championship due to winning the Association of Independent Institution's conference tournament. In 11 games this season, the Tigers are led in scoring by Hector Rosario who is averaging 10.9 points/game. The Tigers have three different players averaging over 10 points per contest.
This will be the first-ever matchup between the Threshers and Tigers in their programs' histories.
The winner between the Threshers and Tigers on Friday night will move on to the second round and take on the Northwestern College (Iowa) Red Raiders on Saturday, March 13 at 6:00 p.m. inside the Garvey Center. The Red Raiders received a No.1 seed for the NAIA Championships, and with it earned a first-round bye for the tournament. The collective winner out of the Threshers, Tigers, and Red Raiders will then move on to the NAIA National Championships final site, the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri from March 18-23.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: BETHEL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Thresher women's basketball team enters the NAIA National Championship Opening Round with an overall record of 16-9, and a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference record of 16-6. This was good enough for a second-place finish in the conference regular-season standings. Bethel fell to Oklahoma Wesleyan in the KCAC Quarterfinals but was still able to clinch a spot in the 48-team field of the NAIA National Championships as the second bid from the KCAC.
As previously mentioned, this is the first time in the program's 48-year history of sending a team to the NAIA National Championships. The Threshers will take on the Vanguard University Lions (California) at 8:00 p.m. inside the Garvey Center, on the campus of Friends University in Wichita.
The Threshers come into the matchup with five statistical categories ranked among the Top 25 of the NAIA. They are 11th in the nation in blocks (107), 18th in defensive rebounds/game (30.4), 20th in rebounding margin (7.96), 22nd in blocks/game (4.28), and 25th in total rebounds (1,046).
Leading the way for Bethel this year is senior Abby Schmidt. The Threshers' all-time leader in blocks, rebounds, field-goal percentage and double-doubles comes into Friday averaging 14.72 points/game, 13.96 rebounds/game, and 3.24 blocks/game. Schmidt was able to clinch her third-consecutive KCAC Defensive Player of the Year honor this season and was a unanimous All-KCAC First Team selection. Schmidt is ranked among the NAIA's Top 25 in eight different statistical categories this season, including being second in the nation in rebounds (349), and fourth in blocks (81).
Joining Schmidt on the All-KCAC team were Kendall Michalski and Alex Bearup, both as honorable mention selections. Michalski has been lighting it up from the perimeter this season and is 22nd in the NAIA with 62 three-point field goals this season, which is also a new program record. Bearup has become the third-leading scorer on the team this season, averaging 9.2 points/game while also being the second-leading rebounder at 5.8 per contest.
Macie Price leads the Threshers with 81 assists, just outside the program's Top 10 for single-season assists (10th is Angie Sieffert, who had 85 in 1984-85).
Coach Drew Johnson is in his fourth season leading the program and comes into the game with an overall record of 64-52. After his first season taking the program to 12 wins after only having four victories the season before, Johnson has produced three-consecutive winning records. Their current total of 16 wins this season is tied for the second-most for the program in a single season, which has been done eight different times. Bethel's single-season wins record is 20, which Coach Johnson helped lead the team to in 2018-2019.
The Vanguard Lions come into the game with a record of 6-4 overall, and are 2-4 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Lions are led in scoring this year by Gabriela Rosas, who is averaging 16.5 points per game in the team's 10 contests this year. The Lions have five different players averaging over 10 points per game this season.
This will be the first-ever matchup between the Threshers and Lions in their programs' histories.
The winner between the Threshers and Lions on Friday night will move on to the second round and take on the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers on Saturday, March 13 at 8:00 p.m. inside the Garvey Center. The Pioneers received a No.1 seed for the NAIA Championships, and with it earned a first-round bye for the tournament. The collective winner out of the Threshers, Lions, and Pioneers will then move on to the NAIA National Championships final site, the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa from March 18-23.
