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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Boyd's late trey helps Bears upset 12th ranked Northwest

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Robert (Bob) Boyd

Men's Basketball | 3/6/2018 10:53:00 PM

Robert Boyd's three pointer with 0:11 on the clock provided the winning edge for the Bears as they upset the 12th-ranked Northwest Rangers 70-68 Tuesday afternoon in the opening game of the NJCAA Region 23 tournament at Mississippi College.
 
The Bears (17-8) will now move on to the semi-finals on Thursday at 1:00 to face the Holmes Bulldogs. Holmes defeated Co-Lin 64-50 Tuesday in game two of the tournament.
 
Roydell Brown's layup with 17:52 left in the first half put the Bears on top 3-2. The Rangers (22-4) then outscored the Bears 7-0 over the next 3:03 to take a 9-3 lead with 14:49 before halftime.
 
With a pair of Antonio Cowart, Jr., three pointers serving as bookends, the Bears then went on a 12-0 run to regain the lead, 15-9, with 11:16 before the break.
 
Trailing 22-20, the Bears scored 11 of the next 18 points, taking a 31-29 lead on a pair of Brown free throws with 2:33 on the clock. Northwest then outscored the Bears 7-4 the rest of the half to take a 36-35 lead at intermission.
 
Outscoring the Bears 10-4 to open the second half, Northwest increased their lead to 46-39 with 14:52 left to play. They would maintain their lead for the next several minutes and, in fact, increased it to nine points, 61-52, with 5:33 remaining.
 
Capped by a John Knight III layup, the Bears then began firing on all cylinders and outscored Northwest 15-5 to move on top 67-66 with 0:52 to left.
 
Northwest regained the lead, 68-67, with 0:25 to go, but Boyd found the ball in his hands with time running out and he calmly sank the trey to put the Bears on top.
 
Two Northwest field goal attempts went awry as time wound down, enabling the Bears to get the upset win.
 
"I thought from beginning to end, this was as together as our group has been," said Bears head coach Thomas Gray. "They knew the effort and focus it was going to take to beat a team like Northwest."
 
"Beyond the guys who had tremendous games on the stat sheet," Gray continued, "I thought our bench was energized and every timeout brought a new guy stepping to the table to encourage his teammates to keep fighting."
 
Cowart, Jr., scored 22 points to lead the Bears' offense. Brown turned in his 14th double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Knight III also scored 15 points. The Bears hit 21 of 31 free throws.
 
Tremont Robinson scored 30 points for Northwest to lead all scorers. He and his teammates combined to go 8-11 at the free throw line.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

John Knight III

#3 John Knight III

G
6' 2"
Freshman
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Bob Boyd

#14 Bob Boyd

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

G
6' 5"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

John Knight III

#3 John Knight III

6' 2"
Freshman
G
Antonio Cowart, Jr.

#4 Antonio Cowart, Jr.

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Bob Boyd

#14 Bob Boyd

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Roydell Brown

#22 Roydell Brown

6' 5"
Sophomore
G