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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears survive tough challenge by BRCC

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

Men's Basketball | 11/14/2017 11:39:00 PM

The Bears closed out the annual Southwest/Coca-Cola Classic Tuesday night, and remained perfect at 5-0, with a 75-65 win over always-tough Baton Rouge Community College.
 
Things did not look promising early in the contest as BRCC took an early 7-0 lead before a three-pointer and layup from Ricardo Lynch made the score 7-5 with 16:44 left in the first half.
 
Later in the half, a 10-2 run left BRCC with a 23-14 lead with 14:31 on the clock. It was at that point, the Bears begin to find their way.
 
Scoring 19 of the next 27 points, the Bears took their first lead of the game, 33-31, on a Robert Boyd bucket with 12:28 before the end of the half. They then went on to hold a 42-35 lead at the conclusion of the first 20:00.
 
The Bears outscored BRCC 16-6 to open the second half. An Antonio Cowart, Jr., trey put the home team on top 47-35 with 19:22 remaining in the game. They then took their largest lead of the game, 58-41, on a TJ Ben layup with 15:26 left to play.
 
But, BRCC (1-4) was not done yet. Going on an 18-5 scoring spree, the visitors pulled to within four points, 63-59, with 10:09 to go. That, however, would be as close as the score would get as the Bears went 5-6 from the free throw line own the stretch to seal the win.
 
"Baton Rouge is a team we always have problems with," said Bears head coach Thomas Gray. "Coach (Ricky) Wilson does a great job getting those guys to play physical. I thought they came out (early) and had a lot of energy (and) I thought our
guys struggled to match it."
 
"We had some spark plugs off the bench," Gray went on. "Charles Winston, with nine points, played huge tonight. Alex Dobrijevich made two huge threes in the first half to get us going and get us in some kind of offensive rhythm. In the second half, our veterans stepped in. Overall, we definitely found some things we've got to improve on, but I was really excited to see our guys fight through this."
 
Cowart, Jr., recorded a double-double, with 15 points and 10 assists, to lead the Bears. Boyd also scored in double figures, with 12 points, as did Devon Benson (10 points). Lynch led the Bears in rebounds with eight. The Bears went 9-16 from the free throw line.
 
Dominique Elliot scored 22 points for BRCC to top all scorers. He and his teammates combined to go 9-12 from the free throw line.
 
The Bears take a few days off before returning to action on November 18 in Mobile against the Spring Hill College Badgers JV. Tipoff is set for 4:00.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Ricardo Lynch

#10 Ricardo Lynch

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Bob Boyd

#14 Bob Boyd

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Devon Benson

#24 Devon Benson

F/C
6' 7"
Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Ricardo Lynch

#10 Ricardo Lynch

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Bob Boyd

#14 Bob Boyd

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Devon Benson

#24 Devon Benson

6' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
F/C