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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears cruise past LSU-Eunice

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Jay Malone

Men's Basketball | 11/12/2018 10:52:00 PM

The Bears moved to 3-0 on the young season as they cruised past the LSU-Eunice Bengals 87-58 Monday night in the opening round of the annual Southwest Coca-Cola Classic.
 
Jumpers from Jay Malone and Lincoln Smith put the Bears on top early 4-0. With 15:06 left in the half, Malone nailed a long-range jumper to increase the Bears' lead to nine points, 18-9.
 
After the Bengals cut their deficit to three points, 20-17, the Bears scored 14 of the next 26 points to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
A pair of TJ Ben free throws gave the Bears a double-digit lead, 40-30, early in the second half. A layup from Malone then increased the lead to 48-35 midway through the half.
 
A pair of free throws from Avery Diggs and an Arturro Bingham jumper gave the Bears a 61-40 advantage with just over 6:00 to play and they went on to win going away, 87-58.
 
"Overall, we found out that winning's hard, as we keep telling our team," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender. "Finding a way to win is the M. O. of this team."
 
"When you're trying to build a championship team, it doesn't matter who gets the credit," Bender continued. "So, each game you're going to see a different guy in our program in essence play very well. Tonight it was TJ Ben who gave us a great lift off the bench with 17 points; his shots were falling. Arturro Bingham played exceptionally well and we shared the ball and played together."
 
In addition to Ben, Malone also scored in double figured with 13 points. Bingham netted 12 points while Diggs scored 10. The Bears made 16 of 21 free throws.
 
Caleb Starks led the Bengals (2-2) with 10 points. He and his teammates made 10 of 18 free throws.

The Bears close out the Coca-Cola Classic Tuesday night with a 7:15 matchup against the Southern-Shreveport Jaguars.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

TJ Ben

#21 TJ Ben

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Jay Malone

#10 Jay Malone

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Lincoln Smith

#15 Lincoln Smith

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Arturro Bingham

#22 Arturro Bingham

G
6' 4"
Freshman
Avery Diggs

#25 Avery Diggs

C
6' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

TJ Ben

#21 TJ Ben

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
Jay Malone

#10 Jay Malone

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Lincoln Smith

#15 Lincoln Smith

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Arturro Bingham

#22 Arturro Bingham

6' 4"
Freshman
G
Avery Diggs

#25 Avery Diggs

6' 10"
Sophomore
C