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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Bears win fourth straight, defeating visiting Trojans 77-55

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Guy Johnson

Men's Basketball | 12/2/2016 8:31:00 AM

Box Score

Avenging a three-point early-season loss in Moorhead, the Bears won their fourth game in a row Thursday night with a 77-55 home decision over the Mississippi Delta Trojans.
 
The win propelled the Bears to 5-2 on the season while the Trojans dropped to 5-4.
 
The Bears took a quick 5-0 lead in the contest before the Trojans scored eight of the next 11 points to knot the game at 8-8 with 16:13 on the clock. Guy Johnson and Antonio Cowart, Jr.., then combined to put the Bears up 12-8 with 15:59 before the half.
 
An 8-0 run, capped by a Queshod Young three-pointer, allowed the Trojans to go up by four, 16-12. Six straight points by the Bears then put them back on top 18-16 with 7:36 left in the opening half.
 
Later in the half, a 9-3 run, capped by a Rodrick Sikes jumper, put the Bears on top 30-24. The Trojans made it 30-28 with 1:00 on the clock before Sikes nailed a pair of free throws to leave the Bears with a 32-28 advantage at the break.
 
A short-range jumper from Mike Parks, Jr.., helped the Bears outscore the Trojans 8-2 to open the second half and move their lead to double-digits, 40-30, with 16:38 left in the game.
 
After the Trojans closed the gap to 40-36, the Bears went on a 12-3 run, taking a 52-39 lead with 12:39 left to play, after back-to-back jumpers from Johnson and
Bryce Baker.
 
Scoring six straight points, the Trojans came back to within seven points, 52-45, with 10:32 left in the game. But, any thoughts of a comeback were wiped quickly dispelled as a 19-5 run by the Bears pushed their lead out to 21 points, 71-50, with 4:04 on the clock. Baker put an exclamation point on the win, nailing a three-pointer with 1:44 to play and the Bears went on to take the game by 22 points.
 
"I thought that we came out and played better in the second half than we did in the first half," said Bears' head man Thomas Gray. "We were a little anxious (to start the game). I don't know if it was that they (the Trojans) stung us with that loss up there (but) our guys were just a little bit too quick to pull the trigger on offense."
 
"But, I thought our guys focused well at halftime" Gray went on, "(and) came back out in the second half and really had an attention to detail on defense. One thing about this team is it all starts on the defensive end and I thought they did a really good job of just being locked in."
 
Concluding his post-game remarks, Gray said "Bryce Baker really gave us a little spark, a little bounce to our step (coming off the bench). I thought, for the most part, for the full 40 minutes we really got after it (and) it's always good to get a win, especially against a really good ball team."
 
Going 10-16 from the field, including 3-7 from three-point range, and 5-5 on free throws, Sikes topped all scorers in the game with 28 points. Parks, Jr., totaled 13 points while Baker had 12 and Johnson scored 10 (and chipped in 10 assists). James Hawthorne led the Bears on the boards with 10 rebounds.
 
The Bears were nearly perfect at the free throw line, hitting seven of nine.
 
Jabarie Escoffery led the Trojans' offense with 13 points. The visitors hit 10 of 19 free throws.
 
The Bears play their final game of 2016, and open MACJC South Division play, on December 5 when they host the East Central Warriors. Tipoff is set for 7:15.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

James Hawthorne

#2 James Hawthorne

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Guy Johnson

#11 Guy Johnson

G
6' 0"
Sophomore
Rodrick Sikes

#14 Rodrick Sikes

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Mike Parks, Jr.

#22 Mike Parks, Jr.

C
6' 9"
Sophomore
Bryce Baker

#23 Bryce Baker

G/F
6' 5"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

James Hawthorne

#2 James Hawthorne

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Guy Johnson

#11 Guy Johnson

6' 0"
Sophomore
G
Rodrick Sikes

#14 Rodrick Sikes

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Mike Parks, Jr.

#22 Mike Parks, Jr.

6' 9"
Sophomore
C
Bryce Baker

#23 Bryce Baker

6' 5"
Sophomore
G/F