Men's Basketball 3/15/2016 3:10:00 PM

Bears basketball to be honored by state legislature

On February 26, 2016, the Southwest Bears captured the 2015-16 Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJC) Men's Basketball Championship in Fulton, MS. It was the program's first state title in 53 years. Led by a team of four sophomores and ten freshmen, the Bears defeated Northwest Mississippi Community College 86-80 in the quarterfinals, East Mississippi Community College 61-59 in the semifinals, and Jones County Junior College 94-83 in overtime of the finals to claim Southwest's first State Championship since the 1962-63 season.

As a reward for their outstanding season, the Bears will be introduced to the Mississippi Legislature in the Senate chamber on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, at 10:00AM, and presented with a resolution honoring their achievement. Members of the Mississippi House who represent SMCC's service area will be in attendance as well.

The Bears finished the season at 17-8 overall and in third place (9-5) in the MACJC's South Division. They were a remarkable 7-2 on the road and 3-0 in neutral site games throughout the season. They averaged 76.1 points per game while allowing only 51.6 (8^th in the NJCAA).

2016 was certainly the Year of the Bears as the team produced a 12-4 mark in January and February. Going 5-2 in the month of January and 7-2 in the month of February, the Bears came together at the right time. They finished the season winning seven of their last eight games, including the three games in the MACJC State Tournament.

Leading the way for the Bears was second-year head coach Thomas Gray. Based on the team's state-title run, Gray was named the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week for February 21-27, the first and only coach in the entire state of Mississippi (D1, D2, D3, NAIA, or Junior College) to earn such an honor.

Moreover, the turnaround from the first year to the second year under Gray is remarkable. The Bears won eight more games during the 2015-2016 campaign than they did during the previous season, the most in the state. Additionally, they averaged 12.7 more points per game this season than they had in the previous, which is the second highest differential in the state.

Their scoring increase was significantly helped by the addition of sophomore forward Terrell Miller from Jacksonville, FL. Miller led the team with 15.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game throughout the season. The 9.5 rebounds per game ranked him 34^th nationally. Even more impressive was the 20.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game that he averaged in conference games. He had 10 double-doubles during the season and was a MACJC Player of the Week selection. Additionally, he was named MACJC First-Team All-State and First-Team NJCAA Region 23 All-Region and is a nominee for the NJCAA All-American Team.

Lafayette Rutledge, a sophomore guard from Gautier, MS, averaged 13.8 points per contest. He hit 84.8 percent of his free throws and 42.8 of his three-point field goals. Moreover, he led the state in three-point field goals made per game and only player in the state to be nationally ranked in the top 40 in that category. He was also a State Player of the Week honoree.

Emanuel "Trell" Thompson continued his winning ways with the Bears. The McComb, MS native won back-to-back 4A State Championships at McComb High School as a Junior and Senior (2013-2014, 2014-2015) and can claim the three-peat to his resume with this year's MACJC State Championship. Thompson averaged 15.1 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game in conference play, second on the team in both categories.

Possibly the biggest surprise in the Bears' title run was the tournament play of freshman guard Rodrick Sikes (Ocean Springs-St. Martin High School). Limited throughout the season at various times due to injuries, Sikes scored 27 points in the Bears' win over Northwest in the tournament opener. In the championship game, he had 31 points when the Bears defeated Jones County in overtime. Sikes' performance during the tournament earned him the Bears' third MACJC Player of the Week award.

Providing much-needed support for the Bears were five Jackson-area players. Bryce Baker, a freshman guard/forward from Hillcrest Christian School, averaged 6.8 points per game and started 23 of the 25 games this season for the Bears. Joseph Coleman, a freshman forward from Forest Hill High School, averaged 6.3 points per game and shot an astonishing 76.7 percent from the field, which at one time ranked him second nationally (he saw limited playing time due to an injury which ended his season at the beginning of January).

Enough cannot be said about sophomore guard/forward Chris McIntosh (Murrah High School) who averaged 3.2 points per game but whose value cannot be understood by looking at a stat sheet. The Jackson native started half of his games as a Bear and was asked to play every position on the court throughout both his freshmen and sophomore seasons. A true leader and floor general, McIntosh adds another State Championship to his resume to pair with his Murrah 6A High School State Championship from 2013.

Scoring 4.3 points per game was freshman guard Guy Johnson (Ridgeland High School) who led the Bears with a 2.8 Assist-to-Turnover ratio, which ranks him top-50 in the nation. Freshman guard Mario Doyle (Warren Central High School) totaled 3.5 points per game, including a 10-point performance off the bench during the State Semifinal victory over East Mississippi.

On-the-court success only shows a small glimpse of the Southwest men's basketball program. Last year during the 2014-2015 school year, the Bears finished 1^st in the MACJC and 2^nd in the NJCAA (Division 1) with a 3.13 grade point average. Only Eastern Arizona had a better GPA among Division 1 men's programs. They continued to raise the bar with a 3.67 Team GPA in the summer and a 3.1 Team GPA in the fall of 2015. The Bears basketball team was selected as the MACJC Men's basketball Academic Team of the Year and an NJCAA All-Academic Team. Over the past two seasons and under the leadership of Coach Gray, the Bears boast a remarkable 3.26 Team GPA.

Additionally, the Bears have been honored with multiple PTK (the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the official honor society for two-year colleges) nominees and multiple student-athletes on both the Dean's List and President's List. Lafayette Rutledge received Honorable Mention for the Haier Achievement Award, an award for model student-athletes on the field and in the classroom. He was the only community college student-athlete and the only underclassman to receive this distinction, with other student-athletes from the likes of UCLA, the University of Dayton, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Rutledge also was elected into the Southwest Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame in February of 2016.

Finally, this group of student-athletes at Southwest is a group that enjoys giving back to the community. The Bears are regular volunteers at the Summit Rotary Club Basketball Camp where they coach and counsel the youth from all neighboring communities.

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