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Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Strong second half helps Bears down Eagles

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

Men's Basketball | 1/10/2019 10:30:00 PM

A strong second-half surge propelled helped the Bears to remain perfect in MACJC South Division play Thursday night as they defeated the visiting Meridian Eagles 78-67.
 
With the win, their fifth straight, the Bears moved to 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the South. The Eagles fell to 5-5, 0-2.
 
The first half was tight from start to finish, with eight ties and eight lead changes and neither team holding more than a three-point lead. The Bears found themselves on top 35-33 at the end of the first 20:00.
 
The second half appeared to start much like the first with two ties and six lead changes in the first 5:36. But, things began to change with the Bears trailing 44-42.
 
A Damian Dear layup, the first two of eight straight points from the freshman that left the Bears with a 50-44 lead with 12:46 left in the game.
 
The Bears took their first double-digit lead of the night, 60-50, on a Jay Malone layup with 9:24 to play.
 
After the Eagles cut the Bears' lead to seven, 62-55, an Arturro Bingham dunk made the score 64-55 with 6:04 to go.
 
The lead continued to grow for the Bears until a pair of BBob Boyd free throws, with 1:06 remaining, gave them their largest advantage of the game, 72-56. They would go on to claim with 11-point win.
 
"It was a great team win," said Bears head man Bryan Bender. "We're still trying to figure out how to piece a whole game together, but (we had) a huge second half again by multiple guys."
 
"The story of the night," Bender continued, "was Arturro who caught fire and had two big-time dunks to give us some momentum."
 
Malone scored 19 points for the Bears to lead all scorers. Dear netted 16 points while Bingham finished with 14. The Bears hit 14 of 22 free throws.
 
Iverson Smith scored 15 points to pace the Eagles. He and his teammates made good on 13 of 22 free throws.
 
The Bears remain home for their next game as they play host to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs on January 14 for a South Division game. Tipoff is set for 7:15.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Bob Boyd

#4 Bob Boyd

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Jay Malone

#10 Jay Malone

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Arturro Bingham

#22 Arturro Bingham

G
6' 4"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Bob Boyd

#4 Bob Boyd

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Jay Malone

#10 Jay Malone

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Arturro Bingham

#22 Arturro Bingham

6' 4"
Freshman
G