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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears escape Hinds, 68-63, in South Division action

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Lincoln Smith

Men's Basketball | 12/4/2018 12:07:00 AM

The Bears opened MACJC South Division Monday night with a 68-63 win in Utica over the Hinds Bulldogs.
 
With the win, the Bears moved to 7-1 on the season and 1-0 in the South. Hinds dropped to 6-3, 0-1.
 
Hinds took an early 4-0 lead and led by five, 12-7, with 14:58 left in the initial half. Southwest then scored nine of the next 13 points and tied the game at 16-all on a
Bob Boyd trey with 10:15 on the clock.
 
A pair of Lincoln Smith free throws, with 9:52 left before halftime, gave the Bears their first lead of the night, 18-17. After falling behind 22-21, the Bears regained the lead for good, 24-22, on a TJ Ben three pointer and closed out the half on a 14-2 run to take a 35-24 lead at the break.
 
The Bears took their biggest lead of the night, 47-35, with 14:03 left in the second half. An 8-0 run by Hinds then trimmed the Bears' lead down to four, 47-43, with 10:06 to go.
 
The Bears would go on to take a 10-point lead four times over the next several minutes, the first on an old-fashioned three-point play from Avery Diggs. Hinds refused to go quietly, however, as they narrowed their deficit to 65-61 with 0:47.1 on the clock.
 
The Bears would fortunately hold firm, going 4-4 at the free throw line over the final seconds of the game, to escape with the win.
 
"I'll say it every time," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender, "winning is hard and we keep finding ways to get it done. Every guy contributed in some way, shape or form and, of course, we had to make it interesting."
 
"We had some big time minutes from our captain, Bob Boyd," Bender continued. "He's a winner and keeps our locker room together." Speaking of the Bears' near-perfect record, Bender said, "Seven and one at the break! I'll take it all day with our lone loss being to the (top-ranked) team in the nation (Northwest Florida State College). Now, it's time to take care of academics and get some rest and hit the road recruiting."
 
Boyd led the Bears' win with 16 points, including 4-7 from three-point range. Diggs turned in a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Smith scored 11 points. The Bears made 11 of 15 free throws.
 
Hinds' Malik Henry led all scorers with 18 points. He and his teammates went 22-29 at the free throw line.
 
The Bears now take time off for final exams and the Christmas break before returning to the court on January 5 with a 4:00 matchup at Baton Rouge Community College.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

TJ Ben

#21 TJ Ben

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Bob Boyd

#4 Bob Boyd

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Lincoln Smith

#15 Lincoln Smith

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Avery Diggs

#25 Avery Diggs

C
6' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

TJ Ben

#21 TJ Ben

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
Bob Boyd

#4 Bob Boyd

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Lincoln Smith

#15 Lincoln Smith

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Avery Diggs

#25 Avery Diggs

6' 10"
Sophomore
C