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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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SMCC vs. Gulf Coast

Men's Basketball Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information

Bears defeat Gulf Coast, 88-81, in OT

Pick up their fifth straight win

It was another sweep for Southwest basketball Monday night as the Bears and Lady Bears racked up two more important MACJC South Division wins. The Bears prevailed 88-81 in overtime, for their fifth straight win, while the Lady Bears overcame an 11-point first-half deficit to win 74-63.
 
As was the case with the wins over Jones County last Thursday, the Southwest wins against Gulf Coast avenged two early-season losses to their opponents.
 
With the wins, both Southwest teams move to 12-7 on the season and 5-3 in the South. The Lady Bears currently are tied for second place in the Division with Gulf Coast while the Southwest men are alone in third place, one game out of second place.
 
Southwest travels to Wesson Thursday night to face their arch-rivals, Co-Lin. The women tip the night off at 6:00 with the men to follow at 8:00.
 
The first half of the game was nip-tuck throughout with five ties and no leads larger than six points. The biggest advantage for Gulf Coast (13-6, 4-4), 10-6, came when Stacey Caroway found the range with 15:32 to play in the half. The Bears saw their largest lead, 21-15, come thanks to an old-fashioned three-point play by Mikel Henry with 11:31 on the clock.
 
After the teams were tied, 29-29, with 4:07 to go before the break, the Bears outscored the visitors 9-8 to close out the first 20:00 and take a 38-27 halftime lead.
 
In the second half, Gulf Coast tied the game at 45-45 with 16:51 to play before the Bears went back up 48-45 on Mark Bridgewater’s trey with 15:55 left.
 
Southwest then slowly stretched their lead until it reached 12 points, 65-53, when Quintarius Porter fired home a three-pointer with 7:59 to play. But, going on a 23-11 run, the Bulldogs refused to go quietly into the night as they tied the score at 76-76 with seconds to play. Bridgewater launched a three-point shot as the buzzer sounded, but it failed to reach its mark, forcing the extra 5:00.
 
The Bears took control early in the extra period, taking a 78-76 lead on a Devin Flowers basket. They later stretched their lead to double-digits before settling for the eight-point decision.
 
“I’m proud of my guys for taking care of business in such a big game,” said Bears’ head man Casey Carter. “Due to some foul trouble (for us), Gulf Coast was able to come back and make it a game late (in regulation, after we had the 12-point lead). However, the way the guys controlled OT after a tough play by Gulf Coast (forced the extended play) showed the strides our team has made.”
 
“Deville (Smith) was outstanding at getting into the lane tonight,” Carter went on, “and creating for everyone. Mark (Bridgewater) was definitely from Deville’s penetration and made some big shots. (Donovan) Ross and (Deione) Weeks provided us with so much tonight on both ends of the court.”

Bridgewater went 7-7 from three-point range to end the night with a team-high 21 points while Ross finished with 20 points. Smith and Weeks were also in double figures, both closing out the game with 14 points. Smith made it a double-double as he dished out 11 assists.
 
Henry scored six points for Southwest while Porter had five. Flowers and Corey Williams both scored four. The Bears hit six of 13 free throws.
 
Box Score----
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