The Bainbridge men’s basketball team split their games this past weekend, losing their game on Friday, Feb. 3, and winning their game on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Friday’s loss to Tift County was an ugly loss. The Bearcats got closer than the last time they played Tift, but still fell 76-42.

The first and fourth quarters were what really separated the scores, but the second and third quarters were very close quarters. Tift only outscored the Bearcats by three points in the second quarter and only beat the Bearcats by one point in the third quarter. Bainbridge were not able to contain Tift in the first and fourth quarters.

“We competed, we didn’t play like we were scared,” said Head Coach Terry Smith. “Tift have a great team.”

Bainbridge’s offense was slow against Tift, and no players scored in double digits. Milton Gayle led the Bearcats in scoring with seven points.

Bainbridge responded with a win on Saturday against Seminole County on the road. The Bearcats won the game 57-56.

After getting ahead in the first half, the Bearcats had to fight off a comeback by Seminole in the second half to keep their lead alive. The Bearcats were up at halftime 24-17, and Seminole set out to close that gap.

The Indians scored 19 points in the quarter to Bainbridge’s 14. The score was 38-36 at the end of the third.

Seminole made their final push in the fourth quarter, and scored 20 points to Bainbridge’s 15, and it wasn’t enough. The Bearcats escaped the game with a slim victory.

The hero of the game is Bainbridge’s bench. According to Coach Smith, the first group wasn’t playing at a high level, and he went to his bench in search of a spark. At the end of the game, 11 Bearcats had contributed to the score, and the bench players made their impact.

“Whenever we got a lead, it was because of the bench,” said Coach Smith.