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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Host Gulf Coast defeats Bears in final regular season game

Will meet Itawamba in state tournament opener

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Emanuel (Trell) Thompson

Men's Basketball | 2/24/2017 8:04:00 AM

Box Score

The regular season came to an end Thursday night in Perkinston for the Bears and Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs with the host prevailing in a close one, 91-87.
 
With the loss, the Bears dropped to 16-7 overall and 10-4 in the MACJC South; they will go into next week's state tournament as the South's number two seed and will face North number three Itawamba in the opening round. Gulf Coast moved to 18-5 and 10-4 and will enter the state tournament as the South's number three seed.
 
After falling behind early, the Bears went on to score 16 of the first 27  points of the game and took a 16-11 lead, with 12:11 left in the first half, on the first of
Rodrick Sikes' eight three pointers in the game.
 
Later, with a pair of Sikes treys serving as bookends, the Bears went on a 14-2 run to increase their lead to 25-13 with 8:20 before the half. Less than 2:00 later, a
Mike Parks, Jr., jumper pushed the Bears' lead to 29-15 with 6:46 on the clock.
 
The Bulldogs, however, slowly began working their way back into the game. With Davion Cole-Johnson scoring 10 points, the hosts scored 18 of the final 25 points of the half to leave the Bears with a 36-33 advantage at the break.
 
The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the second half to take a 38-36 lead with just 1:00 off the clock. The teams then traded baskets over the next several minutes, with two ties and two lead changes, before the Bears took moved out to a 54-48 lead on Emanuel Thompson's layup with 13:47 left in the game.
 
After the Bulldogs tied the score at 56-56, the Bears scored 11 of the next 21 points to take a 67-66 lead with 7:13 left in the contest.
 
The Bulldogs then began firing on all cylinders and went on an 18-5 run to move out to an 84-72 lead with 2:15 remaining. Refusing to go quietly, the Bears then score eight straight points to pull to within four points, 84-80, with 1:00 to go.
 
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Bears would get. Sikes' final three pointer, with 0:03 left, left the Bulldogs with their final margin of victory.
 
"Looking back on it," said Bears' head coach Thomas Gray, "this game was ultimately decided at the free throw line (Gulf Coast hit 35 of 43 charity shots while the Bears made 11 of 18)."
 
"A couple of bad breaks hurt us down the stretch," Gray went on, "but sometimes it's like that and I was proud of the way our guys fought all the way until the final buzzer. I hope the two games we played this week will really sharpen our focus leading into the postseason."
 
Sikes led all scorers in the game with 32 points. Thompson scored 16 points while Parks, Jr., was also in double figures with 13.
 
Zach Parker topped the Bulldogs with 26 points.
 
The Bears begin their state title defense, against the Indians, on Tuesday at 1:00. The state tournament is being played at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville.
 
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Players Mentioned

Rodrick Sikes

#14 Rodrick Sikes

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Emanuel Thompson

#21 Emanuel Thompson

G/F
6' 4"
Sophomore
Mike Parks, Jr.

#22 Mike Parks, Jr.

C
6' 9"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Rodrick Sikes

#14 Rodrick Sikes

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Emanuel Thompson

#21 Emanuel Thompson

6' 4"
Sophomore
G/F
Mike Parks, Jr.

#22 Mike Parks, Jr.

6' 9"
Sophomore
C