Basketball: Bentonville's Boys Suffer Loss In Florida

 Special To NWA Media Kelli Krebs Jordan Hemphill of Bentonville tries to dribble past a Wheeler guard during Friday’s game.
Special To NWA Media Kelli Krebs Jordan Hemphill of Bentonville tries to dribble past a Wheeler guard during Friday’s game.

Bentonville struggled with its shooting, and Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler put three players in double figures en route to a 61-40 victory Friday over the Tigers in the first round of the 42nd annual Culligan City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla.

Bentonville (4-2) connected on only 16 of 53 (30.2 percent) of its shots, including a 3 of 14 mark from 3-point range. Wheeler shot a more respectable 47.3 percent (26 of 55) in the game and enjoyed a 38-20 rebounding advantage over the Tigers, who suffered their second straight loss.

Wheeler set the stage early when it jumped out to a 21-5 lead in the first quarter. The Wildcats led 33-19 halftime and led by as much as 22 points late in the fourth quarter.

"We didn't play with the confidence that it takes to win a game like this," Bentonville coach Jason McMahan said. "I think part of it was the atmosphere. Even if we got past that, we were playing the seventh-ranked team in the nation, and they're pretty good.

"I think the shooting statistics and rebounding margin show that they were much more aggressive than we were and they were attacking the paint."

Malik Monk was the only Tiger in double figures with 13 points, but the 6-foot-4 junior hit only 5 of 15 shots, including 1 of 6 of his 3-point attempts. Hunter Loy was next in line with seven, while Ben Smith added six points and six rebounds.

Jalen Brown, a 6-foot-7 forward who is listed as one of the nation's top recruits, had 24 points to lead Wheeler. Hakeem Anchrum added 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Shembari Phillips chipped in 10 points.

Bentonville returns to action with a consoltion game at 10:10 a.m. Central time today against Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young, which dropped an 84-72 decision to High Point (N.C) Wesleyan Christian in earlier action Thursday.

The Tigers will play again Monday, with a 9:40 a.m. game if they lose today and a 1 p.m. game if they win today's contest.

Sports on 12/20/2014

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