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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears drop tough one against Gulf Coast to end regular season

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

Men's Basketball | 2/23/2018 12:17:00 AM

Despite shooting 58 percent from the field, the Bears were unable to overcome the tough Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs as they dropped a 100-96 loss at home to close out the regular season.
 
The Bears ended the regular season with a 16-7 overall record; their 7-7 MACJC South Division record left them in fourth place. Gulf Coast moved to 16-7 overall; their 9-5 mark gave them third place in the South.
 
After falling behind early, a layup from Jeremy Harrell and a Ricardo Lynch three pointer put the Bears on top 10-6 with 17:31 left in the first half. Gulf Coast then went on an 18-3 run to take a 24-13 lead with 13:01 on the clock.
 
Outscoring the visitors 7-3 over the next 2:30, the Bears pulled to within 27-20 with 11:39 on the clock. Gulf Coast then went on another run, this one 16-8, to increase their lead to 43-28 with 7:05 before halftime.
 
The Bears then went on a run of their own, 11-2, and pulled to within 45-39 with 5:39 left in the half. Gulf Coast then responded with a 12-3 run to take a 57-42 lead at intermission.
 
A trio of treys from Howard Smith along with one from Antonio Cowart, Jr.., and Roydell Brown's layup helped the Bears to a 16-7 run to open the second half that pulled them to within 64-58 with 16:26 left in the game.
 
After Gulf Coast scored six straight to push their lead back to double digits, 70-59, the Bears began finding the range with a 19-6 run, capped by Brown's jumper, left them with a 78-76 lead with 7:30 still to play.
 
Scoring 12 of the next 17 points, Gulf Coast regained the lead, 88-83, with 4:20 on the clock. They then extended their lead to 96-87 with 2:06 to go. That deficit proved to be too much for the Bears to overcome as Gulf Coast went on to record the win.
 
""I was a little disappointed with the way we came out in the first half," said Bears head coach Thomas Gray. "I thought we were a little careless with the basketball; we had 13 of 14 turnovers in the first half."
 
"Were down 15 at the half (but) I thought it was a situation in which our guys responded to start the second half," Gray went on. "I thought we had much better attention to detail offensively. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks; I'm excited about where we are and where we going to be headed and we'll be ready for the state tournament on Monday."
 
Turning in his 12th double-double of the season, Brown led the Bears with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Cowart, Jr., had his seventh double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 assists while Lynch also scored 13 points. Smith also scored in double figures, with 12 points, as did Harrell, with 10. The Bears were 7-13 at the free throw line.
 
Gulf Coast was paced by Dedoch Chan's 33 points. The visitors made 18 of 25 free throws.
 
The Bears open MACJC state tournament play on Monday. Their opponent and game time will be announced Friday. No matter the outcome of the tournament, the Bears will play in the NJCAA Region 23 tournament the following week at Mississippi College.
 
 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Jeremy Harrell

#1 Jeremy Harrell

F/C
6' 7"
Sophomore
Howard Smith

#5 Howard Smith

G/F
6' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Ricardo Lynch

#10 Ricardo Lynch

F
6' 7"
Sophomore
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

G
6' 5"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Harrell

#1 Jeremy Harrell

6' 7"
Sophomore
F/C
Howard Smith

#5 Howard Smith

6' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
G/F
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Ricardo Lynch

#10 Ricardo Lynch

6' 7"
Sophomore
F
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

6' 5"
Sophomore
G