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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Bears win big over Hinds to land playoff spot

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

Men's Basketball | 2/19/2018 11:31:00 PM

Leading for virtually the entire game, the Bears clinched a spot in next week's state tournament with an 80-63 MACJC South Division home win over the Hinds Bulldogs.
 
With the win, the Bears moved to 16-6 and 7-6 in the Division while Hinds fell to 8-12, 5-8.
 
A pair of Jeremy Harrell layups gave the Bears an early 4-0 lead. After the Bears went up 6-1, Hinds scored 11 of the next 15 points to take a 12-10 lead with 14:42 left in the first half.
 
With Hinds on top 14-13, a layup and free throw from Aleksa Dobrijevic and an Antonio Cowart, Jr.., bucket put the Bears on top 18-14 with 11:58 before halftime.
 
Hinds took a 21-19 lead with 5:12 on the clock. The Bears then outscored Hinds 9-4 to end the half and take a 28-25 lead at intermission.
 
After Hinds outscored the Bears 6-2 to open the second half and move ahead 31-30 with 18:20 left in the game, a Roydell Brown free throw started a 19-8 run for the Bears that put them on top 49-39 with 13:57 remaining. It was a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the night.

A 10-0 run, capped by a John Knight III free throw, pushed the Bears' lead to 61-46 with 10:10 showing. Hinds then scored the next nine points to trim the Bears' lead to 61-55 with 7:07 to go.
 
That would be as close as Hinds would get the rest of the way as the Bears scored as Dobrijevic's long-range bomb started a 19-8 run to close out the game. Brown's jumper with 1:54 left gave the Bears their largest lead of the night, 78-57, and they went on to the 17-point victory.
 
"I thought out attack was really balanced tonight (with five players scoring in double figures)," Bears head coach Thomas Gray commented. "I thought Dobrijevic played a tremendous game, not only making shots but also getting to the rim (and) rebounding; I thought Roydell did a great job attacking the rim and I thought our three point guards-Antonio, John and Charles Winston-did a great job of running our team and controlling the tempo."
 
Brown finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, his 11th double-double of the season, to lead the Bears to the victory. Harrell netted 19 points and Dobrijevic scored 16. Cowart, Jr., turned in his sixth double-double, with 11 points and 10 assists, and Knight III scored 10 points. The Bears hit 19 of 29 free throws.
 
Nakia Rivera scored 20 points to lead Hinds. He and his teammates were 5-11 at the free throw line.
 
The Bears play their final regular-season game, and mark Sophomore Night, Thursday night with a 7:15 South Division matchup against the Gulf Coast Bulldogs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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
Charles Winston

#2 Charles Winston

G
5' 8"
Freshman
Aleksa Dobrijevic

#15 Aleksa Dobrijevic

G/F
6' 7"
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
Charles Winston

#2 Charles Winston

5' 8"
Freshman
G
Aleksa Dobrijevic

#15 Aleksa Dobrijevic

6' 7"
Freshman
G/F
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

6' 5"
Sophomore
G