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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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A tale of two halves for the Bears in loss at 9th ranked Pearl River

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

Men's Basketball | 1/24/2019 11:44:00 PM

The Bears gave the 9th-ranked Pearl River all they wanted in the first half before the Wildcats pulled away in the second half to claim an 85-57 win in their MACJC South Division matchup.
 
After falling behind early, 4-0, the Bears came back to take a 7-6 lead on a pair of Bob Boyd free throws with 14:16 left in the first half.
 
The Bears took their biggest, and what would prove to be their final, lead of the night, 13-11, on a Lincoln Smith jumper with 10:09 on the clock.
 
Pearl River (15-0, 6-0) took its largest lead of the first half, 23-16, with 7:39 showing.
 
Buckets from Damian Dear and Roderick Smith narrowed the home team's lead to 23-20 with 6:10 before the before the break. A Jalon Andrews trey then made it 25-24 with 4:50 left in the opening half.
 
Pearl River then scored 11 of the final 17 points of the half to go into intermission with a 36-30 advantage.
 
Despite the Bears' best efforts, the second half would belong to the home team as Pearl River outscored the Bears 15-6 to open the final 20:00 of play and move ahead 51-36. The Bears would, unfortunately, come no closer than 11 points the remainder of the night as Pearl River remained undefeated.
 
"Pearl River has a lot of fire power," said Bears head coach Bryan Bender, "and the score was a lot worse than the game actually was. The game plan was to slow the game down and make them defend. We did a great job executing the plan in the first half, but a quick run (by Pearl River) in the second with turnovers and a couple of bad shots at the rim and they were able to pull away."
 
Bender said the Rodrick Smith had a big game for the Bears. "He showed he can play at a high level," Bender said, "and as we continue to grow and mature as a team, these freshmen will be ready down the stretch. We competed (tonight) and will get back to work Monday for a big game at East Central."
 
Dear scored 14 points to top the Bears in scoring while Rodrick Smith also scored in double figures with 11 points. The Bears hit 14 of 15 free throws.
 
Cedric Brim led Pearl River with 19 points. He and his teammates went 9-15 at the free throw line.
 
The Bears will visit East Central in Decatur Monday night in a 7:30 South Division contest.
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Bob Boyd

#4 Bob Boyd

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Jalon Andrews

#2 Jalon Andrews

F/C
6' 8"
Freshman
Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Lincoln Smith

#15 Lincoln Smith

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Roderick Smith

#24 Roderick Smith

F/C
6' 8"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Bob Boyd

#4 Bob Boyd

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Jalon Andrews

#2 Jalon Andrews

6' 8"
Freshman
F/C
Damian Dear

#5 Damian Dear

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Lincoln Smith

#15 Lincoln Smith

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Roderick Smith

#24 Roderick Smith

6' 8"
Freshman
F/C