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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Xavion Dillon
Chuck Barnes

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

Bears ease by Bulldogs, 66-65

Box Score----
/documents/2015/1/16//bearsvsgulfcoast.pdf?id=558


Call them the 'Cardiac Kids'. Thursday night, for the second straight game, the Southwest Bears gave it all they had on the court and went down to the wire with an opponent before pulling out a close victory. This time, it was the visiting Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs who fell, 66-65, as the Bears picked up another huge MACJC South Division win.
 
The game was action-packed from the start. The Bears (6-6, 3-1) held an early 7-1 lead and later went up by nine, 18-9, on Trent Jeffries (Gulfport, MS, Harrison Central) three-pointer with 10:16 left in the half. An 8-2 run then brought the Bulldogs back to within three, 20-17, with 7:14 to play in the half.
 
Leading by five, 24-19, with 5:53 on the clock, the Bears saw Gulf Coast score 11 of the next 16 points to tie the game at 30-30 with 1:29 before the break. Jaylen Moore (Gulfport, MS, Harrison Central) then nailed a jumper to put the Bears up 32-30 with 1:00 on the clock. A Jamarri Johnson free throw left the home team with a slim 32-31 advantage at the end of the half.
 
The Bears scored six of the second half's first seven points to take a 38-32 lead with 16:12 left in the contest. Up by seven, 48-41, with 10:58 still to play, the Bears saw Gulf Coast (7-6, 2-2) go on a 10-2 run and take their final lead of the night, 51-50, with 7:10 remaining.
 
The game was tied, 56-56, with 3:46 still to play before the Bears went on an 8-1 run, capped by a Xavion Dillon (Tylertown, MS, Tylertown) jumper, and go ahead 64-57.
 
Gulf Coast had one last hope for a win. With the Bears up 66-62 and only 0:01 to play, the Bulldogs' Jorden Andrews went to the free throw line for three shots. Making the first two, Andrews deliberately tried to miss the final one, hoping for a rebound and buzzer-beating, game-winning shot. Much to his dismay, and the Bears' delight, the shot was good leaving the home team with the slim one-point victory.
 
"We're really excited about (the win)," said Southwest head man Thomas Gray. "I think this was nothing other than a dog-fight with two really good teams that got inside the lines and went toe to toe, threw punches (and) took punches."
 
"Mississippi Gulf Coast has a great team," Gray continued. "They have two wonderful coaches. (Head) coach Wendell Weathers and (assistant) Patrick Wilcher do a great job and those guys are ready to play. They have a game plan which is completely oil and water compared to what we want to do. They want to score fast and get out in transition. We want to take our time and get good shots late in the shot clock. We were just fortunate enough tonight, in a game in which I thought both teams played really well, to come out victorious."
 
Jeffries and Moore scored 23 and 22 points, respectively, to lead the Bears' win. Moore added eight assists. Lafayette Rutledge (Gautier, MS, Gautier) also scored in double figures with 11 points.
 
Dillon netted seven points for the Bears while Cliff Fernandez (Sandy Hook, MS, Dexter) added two. The Bears made good on 16 of 22 free throws.
 
Gulf Coast's Johnson led all scorers with 25 points in the game. The Bulldogs also hit 16 of 22 free throws.
 
The Bears take to the road for their next game as they face their arch-rivals, the Co-Lin Wolves, in Wesson Tuesday night. The South Division matchup is scheduled for an 8:00 start.
 
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Players Mentioned

Xavion Dillon

#1 Xavion Dillon

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Lafayette Rutledge

#3 Lafayette Rutledge

G
5' 11"
Freshman
Trent Jeffries

#11 Trent Jeffries

G/F
6' 4"
Sophomore
Jaylen Moore

#12 Jaylen Moore

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Cliff Fernandez

#22 Cliff Fernandez

F/C
6' 6"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Xavion Dillon

#1 Xavion Dillon

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Lafayette Rutledge

#3 Lafayette Rutledge

5' 11"
Freshman
G
Trent Jeffries

#11 Trent Jeffries

6' 4"
Sophomore
G/F
Jaylen Moore

#12 Jaylen Moore

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Cliff Fernandez

#22 Cliff Fernandez

6' 6"
Freshman
F/C