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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears make season debut with big win over Roane State

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Goodnews Kpegeol
Goodnews Kpegeol scored 17 in Bears' win over Roane State

Men's Basketball | 11/1/2019 6:51:00 PM

The Bears got the 2019-20 season off to a successful start Friday afternoon at Chipola College (Marianna, Florida) as they defeated the Roane State Community College Raiders 80-61 in day one of the Milton Johnson Classic.
 
Behind 11 points from Goodnews Kpegeol and 9 from Spencer Rodgers, the Bears held a 37-29 lead at the end of the first 20:00 of play.
 
With under 0:30 gone in the second half, the Bears seemed to have things well in hand as they extended their advantage to 40-29. But, the Raiders exploded for a 12-0 run to take their only lead of the game, 41-40, with 16:30 left in the game.
 
But, the Bears would not be denied on opening day as they outscored the Raiders 40-20 the rest of the way to claim the win. They took their largest lead, 78-57, on a Ryan Black bucket with just over 1:00 to play.
 
Kpegeol and Rodgers both scored 17 points to pace the Bears' offense; Rodgers was 5-10 from three-point range. Devin Evans led the team on the boards with 10 rebounds. As a team hit 12 of 16 free throws.
 
The Raiders' Kavan Hill led all scorers with 20 points. He and his teammates were 4-4 from the free throw line.
 
Bears' head coach Bryan Bender said it was a "great neutral-court game for our team today to start our season off 1-0. Roane was a solid team, but our depth really wore them down. We went on a big run in the second half (forcing) some turnovers (which) helped start our offense."
 
"We have to clean up some of our turnovers," Bender continued, "and ball screen coverages heading into tomorrow's matchup against Chattahoochee Valley." The Bears close out the Classic against the Pirates Saturday afternoon at 3:00.
 
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Players Mentioned

Devin Evans

#1 Devin Evans

F
6' 9"
Freshman
Goodnews Kpegeol

#12 Goodnews Kpegeol

G/F
6' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
Spencer Rodgers

#22 Spencer Rodgers

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Ryan Black

#30 Ryan Black

G
6' 2"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Devin Evans

#1 Devin Evans

6' 9"
Freshman
F
Goodnews Kpegeol

#12 Goodnews Kpegeol

6' 6"
Redshirt Freshman
G/F
Spencer Rodgers

#22 Spencer Rodgers

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
Ryan Black

#30 Ryan Black

6' 2"
Sophomore
G