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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Bears edge Trojans, 70-66

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
John Knight III

Men's Basketball | 11/30/2017 10:24:00 PM

Overcoming perhaps their toughest challenge of the young season, the Bears kept their record unblemished Thursday night with a 70-66 win over the visiting Trojans of Mississippi Delta. The Bears now stand at 8-0.
 
After falling behind early, the Bears took their first lead of the night, 10-8, on a basket by John Knight III with 16:12 left in the half. Continuing a 13-2 run, the built their lead to 17-10 on a pair of T J Ben free throws with 15:40 on the clock.
 
The Trojans (5-4) closed the gap to 21-17 less than a minute later before a pair of Antonio Cowart, Jr.., free throws put the Bears back up by eight, 25-17, with 14:36 before the end of the half.
 
A 9-2 run by the Bears late in the half put them on top 41-30 before they took a 43-32 lead into the break.
 
The game stayed tight in the second half. The Bears took their largest lead of the night, 45-32, on a Ricardo Lynch jumper with 19:32 to go. But, the Trojans battled back to narrow the score to 51-47 midway through the half.
 
A Jeremy Harrell bucket made the score 58-51 with just under 10:00 to play in the game. After the Trojans cut the Bears' lead to 67-64 , Knight nailed a three pointer with under 1:00 to go to seal the deal.
 
"It was a really tough game," said Bears head man Thomas Gray. "I though Mississippi Delta did a really good job of trying to challenge us off the dribble."
 
"Our guys had to play one-on-one on an island a lot tonight," Gray continued. "It caused problems (and) we got in foul trouble. But, fortunately enough the guys were able to pull through and make the stops we needed to down the stretch (and) make shots down the stretch. I thought John played fantastic and really gave us a spark off the bench. I'm glad the guys were able to pull together and pull this one out."
 
Knight III led all scorers with 19 points in the game. Cowart, Jr., totaled 16 points while Harrell had 11. Roydell Brown picked up 11 rebounds. The Bears hit 13 of 19 free throws.
 
Avion Graham scored 16 points to lead the Trojans. He and his teammates made 11 of 17 free throws.
 
The Bears open MACJC South Division play in their next contest, a scheduled 7:30 matchup in Decatur against the East Central Warriors.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Jeremy Harrell

#1 Jeremy Harrell

F/C
6' 7"
Sophomore
John Knight III

#3 John Knight III

G
6' 2"
Freshman
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Ricardo Lynch

#10 Ricardo Lynch

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
TJ Ben

#21 TJ Ben

G/F
6' 4"
Freshman
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

G
6' 5"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Harrell

#1 Jeremy Harrell

6' 7"
Sophomore
F/C
John Knight III

#3 John Knight III

6' 2"
Freshman
G
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Ricardo Lynch

#10 Ricardo Lynch

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
TJ Ben

#21 TJ Ben

6' 4"
Freshman
G/F
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

6' 5"
Sophomore
G