It was another tough night on the road for the Southwest basketball teams as the Bears went down 94-79 at Mississippi Gulf Coast and the Lady Bears were defeated 76-53.
The men’s game was tight in the early going with four ties and three lead changes in the first 4:39 after a Josh Brannon dunk put the Bears (7-8, 2-2 South) on top 2-0.
Ahead 10-9 with 16:37 left in the first half, the Bears then saw Gulf Coast (14-2, 5-0) go on a 21-9 run to take a 30-19 lead with 8:24 on the clock. Southwest managed to stay close and go into the locker room at the half down 42-34.
With the exception of a 6:12 span, the second half belonged to Gulf Coast. After falling behind 71-45 with 11:30 left in the game, three-pointers from Mark Bridgewater and Michael Hall propelled the Bears to a 22-8 scoring run and helped pull them to within 12 points, 79-67, with 5:18 to play. Unfortunately, that proved to be as close as Southwest could get as the Bulldogs held on for the double-digit win.
“Rebounding and points off turnovers were the difference tonight,” said Southwest head coach Casey Carter. “They (Gulf Coast) dominated us in the paint with their size and strength and their guards were able to get easy buckets off sloppy passes in our half court.”
Despite the loss, Carter said he was “extremely impressed with the never-quit attitude our team showed after falling behind 26 points in an extremely hostile environment. We will learn from tonight and our experience (tonight) will make us better as we continue in South play.”
Wesley Blackmon led the Southwest offense with 18 points. Brannon went hit all five of his field goals and all five free throws to pick up 17 points while Bridgewater also totaled 17 points. Cory Lacy and Hall both had nine points while Devin Flowers scored five. Mikel Henry and Parker Moore both contributed two points. The Bears made good on 18 of 23 free throws.
The Bulldogs’ Ice Asortse led five of his teammates in double figures with 19 points. Gulf Coast hit six of 18 free throws.
