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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears get 11-point home win over Co-Lin, clinch state playoff berth

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

Men's Basketball | 2/16/2017 11:53:00 PM

Box Score

The Bears clinched a spot in the upcoming MACJC state tournament, and gained a measure of revenge for a January loss in Wesson, with an 80-69 win over the visiting Co-Lin Wolves Thursday night.
 
The win propelled the Bears to 15-6 overall and kept them in second in the South with a 9-3 mark. Co-Lin fell to 10-11 and 4-8.
 
After Co-Lin took an early 2-0 lead, a James Hawthorne layup tied the game and started the Bears on a 15-6 run, capped by three Rodrick Sikes free throws, that left them with a 15-8 advantage with 13:56 left in the first half.
 
Co-Lin fought back and took a 22-21 lead with 7:18 on the clock. Sikes then nailed a three pointer that sparked a 15-0 run by the Bears that resulted in a 36-22 lead with 3:53 before the break. The Bears went on to take a 40-26 lead into the locker room at the end of the half.
 
Co-Lin cut the Bears' lead to 40-32 early in the second half. The Bears then scored eight of the next nine points to take their biggest lead of the night, 48-33, with 16:31 left in the game.
                                                                                                                                           
With the Bears up 54-40, Co-Lin scored 12 of the next 17 points to narrow their deficit to 57-52 with 9:08 to play. With turnabout being fair play, the Bears scored 11 of the next 17 points, regaining a double-digit lead, 68-58, on a pair of Bryce Baker free throws with 4:55 to go. Baker later added two more free throws to put the Bears up 73-61 with 1:48 showing.
 
Co-Lin cut Bears' lead to 76-68 with 0:42 left, but the Bears' defense held firm and they went on to claim the 11-point win.
 
"I thought, offensively, we got stagnant (at one point), but just because of foul (trouble)." At one point in the second half, the Bears had been whistled for 12 fouls to Co-Lin's three. "Anytime (the fouls) favor one side over the other," Gray went on, "it's tough to overcome. But, when the game got tight, we (began) shooting high-percentage shots and that got our offense going a little bit and it created openings on the perimeter. Bryce making a big three late in the (second) half really helped us."
 
Speaking further of Baker, Gray said he thought the sophomore "was the spark in the second half. He ended the game with 14 points with all coming in the second half. He's a guy who has meant so much to this program. He stays behind the scenes a lot and does a lot of the dirty work. But, it's nice to see him kind of on the forefront of this team tonight and this win. I'm really excited for him to go out the way that he did. It was nice to see him lead the charge and get the sophomores out of here with a win (in their last home game)."
 
Hawthorne finished the game with a double double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Sikes also ended the night with 17 points. The Bears went 24-35 at the free throw line.
 
Co-Lin's LaMarcus Lee led all scorers with 21 points. He and his teammates combined to hit 16 of 28 free throws
 
The Bears begin the final week of the regular season on February 20 with a South Division contest in Raymond against the Hinds Bulldogs. The game is scheduled to get underway at 7:30.
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

James Hawthorne

#2 James Hawthorne

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Rodrick Sikes

#14 Rodrick Sikes

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Bryce Baker

#23 Bryce Baker

G/F
6' 5"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

James Hawthorne

#2 James Hawthorne

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Rodrick Sikes

#14 Rodrick Sikes

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Bryce Baker

#23 Bryce Baker

6' 5"
Sophomore
G/F